Marauding Reality
by BlackElectric
Summary: 'Hogwarts was not a new dream destination for Lucy. Except... where she was right now looked nothing like Hogwarts. The room she was in was a mess, and smelt like a heady combination of feet, aftershave and dirty washing.' Drawn into the 'fictional' Marauders world, will she ever tell them about the series of books detailing their lives & deaths? SBxOC
1. Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed?

**A/N:** This was the very first fanfiction I started when I joined the site ten years ago, but has since been altered to such an extent that really only the underlying plot remains. Yes, it's the dreaded 'ordinary girl pulled into Hogwarts', but give it a chance! The story will follow the Marauders seventh year and feature the fateful day in Godric's Hollow, Hallowe'en 1981.

 **JK Rowling rules all, obviously.**

 **Marauding Reality**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed?**

"Blithering Balderdash."

Seventeen year old Sirius Black muttered the Gryffindor Common Room password. The portrait of the Fat Lady frowned in irritation at being woken up after hours, but swung open begrudgingly.

Ignoring her grumblings, he slipped silently past her into the barely lit Common Room. He closed the portrait shut deftly, cutting her off before she could give his position away.

He had been exploring the castle after hours again. His favourite pastime.

Pulling his cloak closer to his body he made sure his latest discovery from The Room was properly concealed in the inner pocket. He had originally spotted it stashed between a discoloured old tiara and an ugly old pock-marked stone warlock.

His find had looked like an ordinary glass dome at first, initially attracting him only for a quick glimpse of his own reflection. But the touch of his warm flesh had seemed to trigger something in it, a hazy image of a young woman swimming briefly inside.

Without a second thought he had snatched it up and stalked out of The Room.

.o.

He made his way back into the dark, deserted Common Room, momentarily surprised by the sight of two lone figures lolling on the sofas near the fireplace. He released his caught breath in relief when he realised who it was. Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were visibly dozing, their limbs flung in every direction.

The side of Remus's sleeping head rested precariously on his hand with tufts of his fine sandy hair poking out from between his fingers.

Padding silently over to them, Sirius dropped down heavily onto the seat next to him, causing Remus's elbow to slip dramatically from the arm of the chair. His head plummeted and he startled awake with a loud snorting noise.

"Waa-?" Peter cried out, his eyes flinging open at the sudden commotion.

Remus peered up and saw Sirius smirking at him. He rubbed his tired eyes with the back of his hand and double took at his watch.

"What're you laughing about at this time of night?" he asked groggily.

"Nothing," Sirius answered, the ghost of his amusement still on his face. "Flattered you stayed up for me though, boys."

"We must've fallen asleep playing Wizard's chess," Peter mumbled.

"You don't say?" Sirius said, glancing over at the chess figures now fighting amongst themselves on the chequered board.

He removed the strange dome object he had found from his pocket. "Since you're here-"

Remus was forced to bolt immediately upright to catch the heavy glass item that was hurtled towards his face. He grabbed at it clumsily, his expression irritated.

"What's this?" he demanded, feeling like the early hours was no proper time to put up with this nonsense.

"I was rather hoping you might be able to tell me that," Sirius replied, prodding lazily at one of the arguing chess pieces with his finger. It shook its tiny fist up at him.

Remus looked down at the apparently lifeless glass item. He shrugged. "No idea. I've never seen anything like it before."

Sirius glanced hopefully up at Peter before thinking better of it. "Where's James?" he asked, hoping his other friend might have more luck.

"Bed," Remus answered simply.

"Ah, you are mistaken my dear Moony!" James's voice called majestically from the entrance to the Head of Years' Dormitory. "James Potter is never asleep if there is adventure to be had!"

"For Merlin's sake, keep your voice down," Remus warned him. "If McGonagall catches us up at this time again she'll have our guts for garters."

Sirius shuddered, "Please don't mention McGonagall and garters in the same sentence again."

James chuckled appreciatively. "What you got?" he asked, catching sight of the glass object still clutched in Remus's hand and grabbing for it.

He pulled it right up to his face, frowning behind his black round-rimmed glasses.

"Huh."

"Huh?" Sirius enquired.

"Huh," James repeated. "You've got to stop bringing back rubbish from The Room." He tossed the glass carelessly back to Sirius.

Sirius grunted at the weight. "I saw something in it."

"To think I got out of bed for a paper weight," James muttered, dropping theatrically into a chair.

"I saw a face in it," Sirius murmured, looking into the glass. "A girl's face."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure it wasn't just a reflection?" he asked, unconvinced.

"Unless I was being followed around the Room of Requirement by a girl, Moony, I'm fairly sure it wasn't a reflection." Sirius looked back into the glass and rubbed it like a genie's lamp.

There was a second's pause before the glass let out an almost imperceptible roll of vibration. It flung itself high from his grasp and fell heavily to the floor with a loud clunk.

He froze, stunned by the surge of life. All four boys stared down at it in shock.

"O-kay," James said finally, his attention finally caught.

But the dome wasn't finished. It had started to fill with a black substance pulsating inside it. It rippled throughout the glass. They soon realised that it was black _sand_. The minute grains moved angrily, whipping themselves up into a miniature tornado.

The sand began to spin furiously inside.

"Fetch it, Pete," Sirius ordered.

Peter hesitated briefly from fright before scrambling to his feet, racing obediently over to fetch it back.

He picked it up between his fingertips touching as little of it as possible before passing it gratefully back to Sirius.

The dark haired boy grasped it fearlessly, watching as the sand cleared and an image finally emerged.

.o.

The three other boys gathered quickly around to peer into the dome.

A vision of a room had now replaced the dense blackness. It was unlike anywhere they had ever seen before.

Long simplistic plastic and metal tables ran the length of the room. A large white board was stuck to one of the equally white walls much like one of their familiar black chalkboards would be.

On each of the chairs surrounding the beige plastic table top sat a collection of boys and girls, most of them slumped in boredom.

At the head of the table a middle aged man placed his hands down firmly on the desk and loomed towards his disinterested subjects.

Remus's eyebrows knitted together, "It looks like a Muggle school."

"It's so, _white_." James observed.

Suddenly they became aware of a disturbance in the picture.

The older man they had presumed to be the teacher had singled out one of the students. He seemed to be asking her a question, but he did not look at all pleased.

As the object showed them a shimmering close up of the unfortunate girl's face the realisation hit Sirius.

"That's her," he said, unable to believe his eyes. "It's the girl I saw earlier. A reflection, eh Remus?" he shot Remus a look, but Remus ignored him.

The girl's face stared back at her teacher like a deer trapped in headlights and the older man seemed ready to explode from rage at her lack of knowledge in his classroom. His head had started to turn a frightening shade of beetroot pink.

Just like the Marauders the rest of her class were now completely engrossed by the uncomfortable exchange.

James glanced at Sirius. They had both been on the receiving end of a teacher's ire before; Professor Slughorn wasn't too fond of jokes, especially while he was trying to teach.

"We should do something," he stated impulsively.

Remus looked up at James, incredulous, "You are joking? We don't even know when this occurred. If it's little more than a memory."

"Merlin, Moony you can be such a bore," Sirius said, his voice low as he continued to watch the scene play out in the glass.

"We could end up making it worse," he shrugged. "That's all I'm saying."

An audible crack and bump from their upstairs chamber stop them in their tracks.

Sirius let the animated glass slip from his hands onto the table just missing the angry chess pieces. The boys looked up, listening for any further sounds.

All was still now.

"What was that?" Peter breathed finally, his face yet again betraying his fear.

Getting to their feet, they left the now lifeless dome discarded on the table and made their way toward the staircase to investigate the source of the noise.

.o.

The Boys' Dormitory should have been empty. Their only other roommate was stuck in the Hospital Wing with a Quidditch injury.

Sirius knew the bump had to have something to do with the object he had stolen from The Room.

He shook his head as dark silken hair grew rapidly from his face and body. His human feet stretched and twisted until paws now issued imperceptible footfalls on the floor. Whatever had made the crashing noise he was almost certain he would be safer as his canine Animagus, Padfoot.

Setting one soft padded foot onto the Dormitory staircase he began to lead the way up towards the source of the row.

Peter followed quickly in his rodent disguise, inadvertently issuing frightened squeaks as he mounted the stairs.

"Lumos," James murmured, holding his lit wand aloft.

Padfoot reached the large wooden door that separated the staircase from their bedroom. It stood slightly ajar. He paused, steeling himself for what he might find inside. He could sense his friends close behind him waiting for him to take action.

Lifting a heavy paw he pushed the door open.

James shone his wand around the room. There was nothing there. It was a mess, just the way they had left it.

Delving further into the room Sirius strained to unlock his canine instincts to their full potential.

No, the room was definitely empty.

Turning back to his friends he inadvertently let out a whine of confusion. He was surprised to find their faces twisted unnaturally. To his left, Peter let out a sudden burst of screeching squeaks.

Padfoot knew the pitch of that squeak like the back of his paw. He had heard it many times during Remus's monthly transformations. For some unseen reason Peter was terrified.

The large black dog scanned the room again, a sense of foreboding sweeping over him.

Finally he saw it. Running all along the centre of Remus's bed was a large bulging lump. Someone, or worryingly _something_ , was hiding amongst his sheets.

"I take it that doesn't belong to you, Moony?" James whispered.


	2. The Girl

**Chapter 2**

 **The Girl**

"What _is_ it?" Remus uttered, looking across at the bulge in his bed.

Waves of seemingly headless thick long hair had smothered his usually very much hair-free pillow.

Urging himself forwards, Padfoot grasped the corner of Remus's blankets between his sharp teeth, pulling them back in one swift motion. In the darkness of the room the outline of an unconscious figure was unveiled like a magic trick.

"At least it's human," James whispered, feeling a slight relief. Judging from the clothes and size of the figure it was clearly a girl.

There was just enough time for Padfoot to take a step back before the strange girl began to stir. She pushed herself up awkwardly into a seated position, a pale hand appearing to emerge from nowhere to sweep her curtain of hair to one side.

When her dazed eyes came to a rest on the large brute of a dog, the distinct scent of her fear drifted to his canine nostrils.

The boys looked on in horror as her strangled cry rang through the silence.

.o.

Stepping forward with the agility of a cat, James moved to clamp a large hand over her screaming mouth. The discovery of a strange girl in the boys' bedroom would not end well for any of them.

It was only when he felt a sharp sting on the inside of his palm that he realised his mistake.

"She bit me!" he exclaimed in shock, pulling his hand back as if it had been electrocuted.

Without warning, she was up like a lightning shock, making use of the distraction to escape. Remus reached out to grab her as she ran towards the door, his fingers grazing her top, but she managed to pull away from him at the last second, reaching for the handle and yanking it open.

"Padfoot," James called, still nursing his bitten hand. "Get her!"

Padfoot dutifully turned on the spot and leapt deftly across the room.

In a single bound he was on her, knocking the girl forwards through the doorway. He heard her grunt as the sheer force of his weight knocked the air from her body.

As she sprawled forwards onto the floor, her outstretched arms dangled down over the first few stairs. A few inches more and they would have both fallen down the staircase.

Regaining his footing quickly, he placed his huge front paws at either side of her shoulders, forming a furry muscular cage.

He let out a rumbling warning growl as the girl continued to struggle underneath him. At the very obvious threat of huge jaws clamping around the back of her neck, the girl stopped moving immediately.

Remus made his way over quickly, ordering the lights on. He pushed Padfoot backwards until she was free.

"We're not going to hurt you," he told her calmly, "there's really no need to be afraid."

Holding out his hand, he waited to help her up. "Please," he insisted.

The girl eyed him warily, but reluctantly took it. He pulled her quickly to her feet.

The boys did not understand how or why it had happened, but there was no getting away from the fact that the stranger in front of them was the same girl that they had seen not ten minutes before in the glass dome.

Sirius knew that they had somehow played a part in her arrival, and he knew it without needing to see Remus's glare boring into his broad, furry back.

.o.

"What's your name?" Remus asked the girl with an affable, if a bit uncertain, smile.

She stared into his eyes. They looked like the darkest part of the ocean; calming, and yet somehow dangerous at the same time.

Feeling almost hypnotised by him, she took his hand and allowed him to shake it loosely. The heat of his palm scorched her skin.

"Lucy," the girl replied in a half whisper, her voice lost. "Where am I?"

She looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings. The room looked positively mediaeval, with stained glass windows, stone walls and flooring. It seemed like the kind of place that could have comfortably housed William the Conquerer, except there were four single beds dotted around the room.

She glanced warily over at the black dog that had previously knocked her to the floor. It was bigger than any she had ever seen.

"He's not that bad once you get to know him," James remarked, noticing her gaze. "A bit of a big head at times," he added, "but not bad."

The dog's head cocked to one side as it stared back at her with intelligent grey eyes. This was just a dream, she told herself. Just a weird, messed up dream.

Kneeling down on shaky legs, she reached out a tentative hand towards it. It felt good to be on the floor, it shortened the distance to fall for when she inevitably passed out.

The dog rose to its feet and padded slowly towards her, circling her body as if weighing her up. It shoved heavily against her side as it walked, as if it didn't realise its own mass.

"You're too big to throw your weight around," she told it quietly, remembering how he had nearly flung her down the stairs like a rag doll. The front of her body still hurt from the impact.

It nudged her hand in response, allowing her to run a hand through the fur on its neck.

James rolled his eyes. "You're making a fool of yourself," he muttered.

Lucy looked up with a frown, wondering if he was talking to her. Oddly enough, he seemed to be addressing the dog.

"Er, maybe we should talk more about how you got here, Lucy?" Remus suggested quickly, pulling her attention away.

"I have no idea," she answered, still trying to find her voice. "I was in a lecture. I must have fainted or something. Unless I've gone completely mad. I'm really hoping I haven't," she added, eyeing up the tremendous hound still sat at her side.

.o.

"She thinks she's dreaming, Moony," James said, speaking out of the side of his mouth as if it provided instant protection from the girl's ability to overhear.

He looked back at Lucy. "Do you often have dreams about two impossibly good looking men, a dog and a rat?" he enquired.

"What other explanation is there?" she replied.

James pretended to think on it for a second. "Er... magic?"

She gave him a funny look as if she didn't get the joke.

Noticing her bemusement, Remus added, "Well we are in Wizarding School. Surely it's not much of a stretch to assume you travelled here through some kind of magic, I'm not sure how else it would have been possible?"

"We should take her to Dumbledore," James stated.

She scoffed openly now. "Dumbledore!" she exclaimed. "You're not serious? I suppose that's Dumbledore?" She pointed at the large rat now grooming himself.

James raised both eyebrows, "Of all the girls we could summon, we have to get the absolute raving lunatic."

"No, that is a rat," Remus spoke to her slowly and clearly now, as if she were a mad woman, "Dumbledore is our Headmaster."

She frowned deeply. "You're actually trying to tell me that this is Hogwarts?"

"Yes!" James replied, pleased that she was finally getting it.

She would have laughed if she hadn't been so fearful for her sanity.

"How do you know it?" he continued, "Are you from Ilvermorny?" His hazel eyes flashed excitedly at the prospect.

Remus raised an eyebrow at him. "Judging from the fact she is clearly both English and a Muggle, James, how on earth could she be from there?"

James shrugged, it wasn't _his_ job to explain the theories he came out with.

But Lucy had moved on. "Hogwarts?" she repeated to herself.

She felt her entire axis shift. It was as if the room had started to spin.

.o.

 _Hogwarts._

Either these boys were playing the most realistic prank that she had ever been subjected to, or there was something extremely wrong with her.

Hogwarts was not a new dream destination for Lucy. It was not unusual that she spend her time reading and daydreaming about the setting of her favourite fictional book series. Except, where she was right now, looked _nothing_ _like_ Hogwarts.

The room she was in was a mess, and smelt like a heady combination of feet, aftershave and dirty washing.

As panic set in, alarm bells started to ring tinny and deafening in her head. They were unbearable to the point that she wondered whether slamming her head against the stone wall would procure some relief.

"What did you say your names were?" she asked the two boys now staring at her as if she belonged in St Mungo's, dreading the answer.

Remus looked startled as if he hadn't been expecting her to speak lucidly again. He stuttered out his name before adding, "And this is James."

"No." She shook her head firmly.

The two boys stood in front of her looked _nothing_ like Remus and James. "Remus and James don't look like that," she told them definitely.

James looked most indignant at being called a liar. "Er, I think you'll find they do look like that," he replied, "and you can trust our authority on this because, guess what? We're them."

The look on his face did not look like a boy who had been caught in an elaborate lie.

"You look nothing like I always imagined you," she murmured to herself.

"How you imagined us?" Remus asked gently. He looked at James, "What on earth can she mean?"

James shrugged, "I have no idea. We have to get her out of here, Moony. She's a liability. Think of what McGonagall will do to us if she finds out."

"McGonagall," Lucy repeated breathily, hearing another familiar name.

James stared at her wide eyed. "Yes, McGonagall," he said, humouring her. He shot Remus an impatient look.

"Are you going to be okay?" Remus asked her tentatively.

But she was too busy lost in her own thoughts to hear him. She must have passed out in class and hit her head, she realised. That would explain not only her -unfortunately vivid- sense of smell, but also the distortion of her usual dream. Both were obviously the result of a sensory breakdown.

The big black dog still sat next to her cocked his head to one side again as if he was trying to figure out what exactly she was.

In that second the ringing inside her head stopped dead, until it was as if she could hear nothing at all.

She fought the urge to slip into unconsciousness as she realised just who lurked behind the dog's peculiar grey eyes.

"Sirius," she murmured.

"What?" James demanded, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"Nothing," she said quickly.

If she let them know that she knew who Padfoot really was, they would invariably demand to know how. She wasn't sure that she would be able to explain that she had read about their lives in a story book.

In all of her previous daydreams Lucy had always taken it upon herself to forewarn the Marauders of Peter's ultimate betrayal. But something about this just didn't feel right. It all felt too real.

.o.

"You're probably best to stay with us for tonight, Lucy," Remus relented.

At James's look of utter disbelief, he added tiredly, "Do _you_ fancy telling any of the Professors about this tonight, Prongs?"

James thought on it. "No," he admitted finally.

"No," Remus repeated. "And nor do I. I think the best course of action we can take tonight is to sleep and deal with this in the morning. She can take Simon's bed for the night," he said, gesturing towards the only made bed. "He's staying in the Hospital Wing for the next few nights, at least."

"He had a nasty fall during Quidditch practice," James told her, remembering the curious way that Simon's elbow bone had ended up outside of his body.

Lucy said nothing, going along with the story in the same way as she would in her usual dreams.

"Maybe _Padfoot_ should sleep downstairs tonight," James said pointedly, looking across at the big black dog.

As Padfoot obliged, trotting out of the room and down the stairs, Remus shut the door behind him quickly. She wondered just how long Sirius would leave it before he returned.

He had always featured first and foremost in her dreams. There was an electricity in the anticipation of getting to see him. Particularly since the other boys looked nothing like her usual dream manifestations.

She only hoped that her dream did not end before she got a chance to find out.

"Here," Remus said, handing her a black top, "you may as well use one of Sirius's old t-shirts to sleep in." Sirius had caused this mess after all, the least he could do was lend the girl something to wear while she slept. "I'm sure he won't mind," Remus finished, not caring if he did.

She paused before letting her fingers grasp around the soft cotton of the t-shirt. She could _feel_ it.

Remus gave a strange look at her ceremonious handling of the cloth. She quickly tried to act normal.

"Where's the bathroom?" she asked.

He pointed to one of the doors and she walked quickly inside. Shutting the door behind her, she let herself slide to the floor.

Her eye was caught by the illustration on the back of Sirius's t-shirt. 'The Golden Phoenixes' was emblazoned in moving flames. A picture of a band with a female drummer and two male guitarists filled the front.

It smelt freshly washed, with a very slight lingering of aftershave.

With her nose buried deeply in the fabric, she made a concentrated effort to pull herself together. She should be happy, really. Whatever was happening here, there were worse places she could be right now.

She was in her favourite daydream.

Even if it did look completely different and fill her with terrifying thoughts of existentialism, dread and foreboding.

Changing into the t-shirt, she bundled her own clothes up and forced herself back out into the bedroom.

By now the lights had been snuffed out and only the gentle breathing issuing from the beds punctuated the darkness. Heavily shadowed moonlight streamed in from the windows.

Sirius's bed was still noticeably empty. Perhaps he really would be spending the night downstairs.

She crept over to the bed that Remus had given her.

Stepping past the closed door to the stairway exit, she heard the muffled footsteps behind it too late. The large door swung open and a dark figure bumped into her on its way in.

"Sorry," it muttered as if on reflex, reaching out with its hands, "I can't see a thing."

She froze, trying to peer through the darkness.

"Sirius?" she asked eventually in a small voice.

There was a beat before the male voice countered, "Who's this?"

.o.

Lucy felt her heart leap into her mouth. Her body started trembling with unbidden adrenalin.

It was Sirius.

Trying to blink her eyes into night vision, she desperately tried to get a proper look at him.

Regardless of his question, she knew that he had to be well-aware of exactly who she was. Her insides squirmed when she remembered how Padfoot had let her touch him.

"I'm with Remus," she replied automatically, before cringing at her choice of answer. It had been the first thing to pop into her head.

She thought she heard Sirius exhale in amusement.

"Where are you sleeping?" he asked in a hushed voice.

"I think it's Simon's bed," she replied, grateful that she had not involved Remus in that answer as well.

"Right," he replied, clearly not enjoying the sensibleness of her second answer quite so much. "I suppose I'll see you in the morning then."

She tried to calm her thundering pulse as she heard him walk away. Their first meeting had felt like something of an anti-climax.

Stepping precariously over to Simon's bed, she climbed in and pulled the covers up. It felt wrong sleeping in a stranger's bed. It even smelt wrong.

She could hear the faint rustle of Sirius undressing in the dark and found herself overcome by a wicked temptation to peek over.

Before she could build up the nerve, his movement stopped and the air became still.

She closed her eyes. She would just have to sleep. When she got up, she would be at home and safe back in her own reassuringly dull existence.

.o.

She awoke to find her inner eyelids glowing red from a bright light. Cracking a squinted eye open, she peered at the Autumnal morning sun pouring in through the window.

It was a second before the memory of the night before came flooding back in one fell swoop. Her lids flew back like sprung shutters.

She was horrifed to find that an unrecognisable chest of drawers sat next to her bed. Heavy brocade curtains hung from the backlit window frame. The sight of the musty old fabric sent her insides gambolling. This was not her bedroom.

A door opened behind her and she turned to find Remus Lupin emerging from the bathroom, brushing his teeth.

He started when he saw she was up. "You're 'wake," he said, his mouth still full of toothpaste. Holding up a hand, he took a step back into the bathroom to wash his mouth out.

He reappeared with a polite, if a little strained, smile on his face. "Sleep well?"

Her chest was hammering. She had no idea how it was possible, but she was still in Hogwarts. The stinky, unfamiliar Hogwarts with the strange faces attached to familiar names.

She started to feel uncomfortably hot.

"Er, yeah, thanks," she remembered to stammer.

"Luckily for all involved it's Saturday," Remus told her. "So we have a couple of free days to decide what to do about you."

A lump stirred in the corner of her eye and Peter emerged from his blankets like a caterpillar cocooned in a chrysalis.

"Alright?" he greeted Remus sleepily.

Peter's eyes met with hers and a look of horror spread across his face. "Morning," he said automatically, pulling his sheets up protectively as though she posed a threat to his modesty. He had obviously hoped that her presence was all a bad dream too.

Swivelling her legs out of the bed, she felt the need to get away from them.

"Well I'm heading down to breakfast with James," Remus told her as she went to stand. "I hope you don't mind, it's just I can get a bit cranky without food. You're welcome to come down with Pete and join us when you're ready, though."

Both Lucy and Peter looked decidedly un-thrilled at the prospect of going anywhere together.

Having pulled on a jumper, Remus walked out of the room.

She heard affected snoring start up in the background and realised that Peter had either gone back to sleep or, possibly more likely, was pretending to sleep to avoid her.

The mound in Sirius's bed told her he wasn't up yet either. Though they had met briefly the night before, it had been in complete darkness. She still hadn't seen what he looked like yet.

Walking carefully over to him, she craned her neck to steal a look. The muffled groan issuing from underneath his blankets sent her dashing into the bathroom.

.o.

Lucy turned the lock on the bathroom door, only to discover with some annoyance that it was broken. She would just have to hope that no-one decided to burst in without knocking.

She noticed that Remus had left her small note on the unit next to the sink, underneath which lay a small pile of toiletries intended for her.

Releasing a shaky breath, she examined her reflection. Her makeup from yesterday morning – that she had applied before college – made her look like an angry raccoon.

Rifling through Remus's pile, she uncovered a small comb.

"What am I doing?" she muttered to herself as she tried to run the teeth through her hair. "I'm in Hogwarts...combing my hair."

She started to chuckle at the absurdity of it all, feeling a threat of hysterics.

A glimpse at the t-shirt she was wearing in her reflection made her pause. She had left her own clothes bundled up on the floor beside her bed.

Dropping the comb back into the little pile, she listened at the door. Hearing nothing, she cracked it open to race out and fetch them.

"Hello again," a male voice came from directly in front of her. She had nearly stepped right into him.

The boy's tall body now blocked her exit.

Slowly forcing her gaze up, her eyes travelled over the lean bare chest that stood in front of her. Dark hair framed the unfamiliar face, falling artfully in a soft, thick morning tumble.

Peering up into the boy's eyes, she felt her heart stop dead. She recognised those eyes from the night before. They were the same unusual grey as the big, black dog.


	3. Age Before Beauty

**Chapter 3**

 **Age Before Beauty**.

Just like the others, Sirius Black looked nothing like she ever had imagined him.

It stole the air from Lucy's lungs.

She stared up at him, unable to tear her eyes away. He was incredibly attractive. More attractive, in fact, than her own imagination could have ever hoped to dream up.

She was surprised to find that he did not break her eye contact; an unabridged intensity behind his grey eyes, as if she was an object of curiosity that needed to be examined further.

The sound of the Dormitory door shutting in the background brought them both back to the room. Sirius turned away to look.

Peter had taken his opportunity to leave the room.

"I thought you'd gone down to breakfast," Sirius said, looking back to her and gathering himself. "The bathroom door wasn't locked," he added in explanation.

"I couldn't get it to work," Lucy replied on autopilot, ordering her legs to stay upright.

He seemed to take in her answer before nodding.

Guiding her back into the bathroom, he shut the door behind them both. From inside the limited space of the room, she was certain he would be able to hear her frantic pulse.

"Kick it at the base," he demonstrated on the door, holding the bottom in place with his foot, "and hold there while you turn the lock."

He turned back to her, opening his mouth to say something else, but stopped abruptly.

His dark eyebrows furrowed. "Are you hot?" he asked, observing the pink that had spread across her cheeks.

Lucy felt her flustered face get even warmer.

"Er, a bit yeah," she admitted, blowing upwards with her bottom lip. Sirius's bare chest was still inches from her face.

He raised an eyebrow.

She couldn't bring herself to meet his stare, eyeing the door in hopes of escape.

"Are you sure you don't have a temperature?" he asked, his voice dipping down an octave, a look of what seemed like amused realisation creeping onto his face.

Her feet were glued to the floor as he took an excruciating step towards her in the already confined space. He lifted the back of his hand to her brow. It felt refreshingly cool against her heated skin.

The knowing quirk at the corner of his lips fell away. "You're on fire," he stated, searching her face for an answer.

"I'm fine," she lied, "it's just a bit claustrophobic in here."

He looked around and seemed to realise they were still locked in the cramped bathroom. He unlatched the door.

Lucy felt her breath release with the lock.

She followed him out, walking over to her clothes as fast as her legs would carry her and bending over to pick them up.

"Are you going back in there?" she asked Sirius over her shoulder, unable to make eye contact now. "If you are I'll get dressed out here."

"'The Golden Phoenixes'," he read the words on her back aloud. "Is that my shirt?"

She closed her eyes briefly, fighting the mortification.

"Remus gave it to me," she explained, straightening as she turned to face him.

Sirius appeared to be entertained by her response. He inclined his head to one side in a way that reminded her of Padfoot. "You can keep it," he said.

His eyes seemed to drift down from the shirt, surveying her.

She followed his focus down to her bare legs. By the time she looked back up, he had already turned away and disappeared into the bathroom.

.o.

Sirius exited ten minutes later, a scent of soap and aftershave following him out.

Lucy was already long dressed and seated on Simon's bed to avoid any further embarrassment should he walk out on her changing.

The sight seemed to surprise him somewhat. "Good, you're ready. Shall we see if breakfast is still on the table then?"

Though she had not eaten since yesterday afternoon, or last night, depending on whether she went by her own time zone or Hogwarts, it felt as though food would turn to ash in her mouth. She put an inadvertent hand to her sickly midriff.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said, one side of his mouth pulling upwards as he adjusted his shirt collar.

Lucy got the feeling that she wasn't in much of a position to correct him.

Heading out of the boys Dormitory, he led the way out of the Common Room and bounded quickly down the Grand Staircase, assuming without checking that she could keep up.

By the time they finally reached the bottom and entered out into the vast space of the Entrance Hall, she was almost out of breath. Apparently unaffected by the exercise, Sirius strolled over to one of the ceiling high doors of the Great Hall and pulled it open a crack.

She looked around his arm to peer inside. Like so many times before since she'd arrived at Hogwarts, she found her gaze glued to the jaw-dropping sight in front of her.

The ceiling of the room was a lavender blue, with faint wisps of cloud roiling across it like migrating sea creatures. She knew from the books that it was a direct echo of the sky outside, but had never expected it to be quite so beautiful in the daytime.

Students were sitting around doing their homework and chatting animatedly with one another, not even seeming to register all of the amazing things around them.

There wasn't a breakfast plate in sight.

"Damn it," Sirius breathed, closing the door again. "We missed it."

He turned around, the wheels in his head visibly turning. "I have an idea."

Leading her away from the Great Hall, they approached a narrow set of steps to the left of the Grand Staircase. The stairs were dimly lit on either side by evenly placed lanterns.

As they started their descent, she wanted to ask him where on earth they were going, but she couldn't seem to muster the words. She was, in all honesty, still star struck by the realism of him. Treading confidently down the steps in front of her, Sirius's presence seemed larger than life.

She was starting to feel like Alice in Wonderland, being led by the white rabbit. Except that the white rabbit in this case was an impossibly good-looking seventeen year old boy.

They walked along a shadowy corridor past a huge stack of barrels emitting a strong stench of vinegar.

He stopped when he reached a large still-life painting of a fruit bowl. He pointed his long forefinger at the painting of the pear and gave it a gentle tickle.

The pear squirmed and giggled coyly before magically transforming into a green door knob, and Lucy was left speechless.

Sirius looked pleased with himself as he led the way through the new door.

.o.

"So let me get this straight," Lily's voice was worryingly calm as she addressed James in the confines of their common room.

"You went messing around in that stupid Room of Requirement, _again_ , even though I specifically warned you that you should stay away from it? And by doing so you've effectively kidnapped a poor Muggle girl and trapped her in the castle...?"

James cupped his hand to the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well, when you say it like that-"

"How exactly am I supposed to say it, James?" she cried.

He looked to Remus for help, who shook his head as if to say 'don't bring me into this'.

"What on earth are you going to do about her?" she asked in disbelief. "Do you even know where she came from to take her home? You've pulled some stunts in your time boys, but _this_ spectacularly takes the cake!"

"You know, technically it was Sirius who stole the glass dome from The Room in the first place," Peter added quietly, feeling like that information might abate her anger a little.

It did not.

Lily's green eyes flashed dangerously at him until he physically retreated from her.

"And do you know what," she continued, "all of that would be bad enough… But just to add the cherry on top, you've let her go wandering off around the castle. With Sirius. I mean of all people. _Sirius_. "

"We didn't _let_ her," James argued diplomatically. "We were eating breakfast. It wasn't our fault he took her while we were gone."

Lily looked like she was ready to throttle him.

"Okay," Remus placated, looking at the deathly expression on her face and guiding James safely out of arm's reach. "Let's all calm down, shall we? This is fixable."

"You're a terrible liar, Remus," she stated. "This has all gone too far. We have to tell Dumbledore."

.o.

"Welcome to the Hogwarts Kitchens," Sirius exclaimed as they entered, opening his arms as if it belonged solely to him.

There was a seemingly continuous supply of food on the shelves surrounding the room.

"Master Black! Welcoming you!" A tiny creature greeted Sirius with a happy, lopsided smile.

"Just Sirius," he told it.

"I am most sorry, Mister Sirius," the House Elf apologised profusely. "Tickey forgets these things. Tickey won't forget again," she promised earnestly with a waggle of a finger.

Sirius gestured at Lucy and himself, "We missed breakfast this morning -"

He didn't get chance to finish his sentence. Tickey was already squealing in delight, gesturing wildly.

"Come, come," she squeaked, "Tickey has just the ticket!"

Sirius's face pulled into an easy grin. "Just what I was hoping you'd say."

Tickey pulled at them, trying to make them move faster.

Lucy couldn't help but breathe a slightly frantic laugh as the House Elf tugged at her sleeve. Whatever was happening inside her mind was just not normal.

Tickey pulled them towards a row of tables with tiny stools, clearly not normally meant for human guests. "Sit, sit!" she urged. "Tickey will be only a moment."

The House Elf promptly dived into a nearby cupboard and began to rummage around.

Sirius just had time to balance himself on a seat when Tickey was back with two trays overflowing with food. Lucy wasn't sure how Tickey could carry something that looked to be easily twice her own weight.

Sirius's eyes visibly lit up. "I'm starving," he growled.

"If there's nothing else, Tickey will be going to finish her duties now," the House Elf said.

"That's all," he told it through a mouthful of food.

"Thanks," Lucy called uncertainly as Tickey curtsied and scurried away.

She looked down at the mountainous supply of food on her tray. Sausages, bacon, fried mushrooms, beans, hash browns. The list was endless.

Her treacherous stomach grumbled and she tried to eat, picking up a buttered crumpet.

"So, you're Remus's friend did you say?" Sirius asked her, finishing his mouthful.

She inwardly winced at the memory of her blunder. "No, not really," she admitted.

He stopped and wore a practised look of puzzlement, "So you're _not_ Remus's friend?" He seemed to get a kick out of making her sweat, fully aware that she was not.

"To be honest," she said, forcing herself to look into his handsome face, "I'm not even sure how I ended up here last night. I had hoped someone here would be able to tell me more about what happened before I arrived?"

It gave her a sense of satisfaction to see the obvious discomfort her question caused him. He pretended to study his food, stuffing his mouth with a bite of scrambled egg as if he hadn't heard her.

She let out a breath, putting down the food in her hand.

Sirius glanced up her. "What if I take you to ask the others about what happened last night?" he relented slightly.

She realised that it was all he could do without admitting that he had seen everything disguised as a dog. It was the best she was going to get.

"Thank you," she said earnestly.

She turned her attention to the cup of steaming black tea that Tickey had left for her, picking up the pewter jug of milk and adding it carefully. While she stirred the contents into a miniature whirlpool, she thought she could see Sirius glance at her every so often in her peripheral vision.

When she eventually looked back at him, their eyes met briefly over the table, and she found the same expression of repressed curiosity on his face as she had seen earlier. He looked quickly away, clearing his throat.

"So," he said, picking up his goblet, "what do you think of Hogwarts so far?" He took a swig of the contents and leaned back in his chair.

She gestured around at the shelves of food. "What's not to like?" she said, paying him lip service.

He seemed to like the answer. He paused in thought for a moment before bending forward onto the table.

"You know," he said conspiratorially, "I could show you around the castle after this?" There was a wild light behind his eyes that dared her to agree.

"Unless you'd prefer to meet up with the others to talk about what happened last night?" he added, as if she wouldn't be brave enough to go take him up on his offer.

"I'll go with you," she replied.

Even Sirius seemed surprised by her assent. A slow grin grew across his face.

"Perfect," he said, beginning to enjoy himself. "Let's go." He got up quickly, glancing back at her pausing by the trays.

"Leave them," he said carelessly, "they don't like us to interfere too much down here."

Holding out a hand, he gestured for her to go first, "Age before beauty."

He gave a laugh when she registered what he had said and shot him a frown. As she walked past he flashed a wolfish smile.

When they reached the exit to the kitchens, she felt him close behind her. He leant over her to turn the door knob before she could reach it, glancing down at her just briefly.

She stepped through the doorway ignoring the tell-tale warmth creeping onto her face.


	4. Dumbledore's Two Sickles Worth

**Chapter 4**

 **Dumbledore's Two Sickles Worth.**

"Sirius is back," Peter said, spotting his long haired friend finally step through the portrait door with Lucy by his side. It looked like he had just said something that made them both laugh.

It had been four hours since Remus and James had first left Lucy that morning, inadvertently placing her in Sirius's dubious care. It had been a very long wait.

"I dunno what you two are chuckling about," James called to them as they approached. "Lily's on the warpath."

Sirius's grin faltered on his face. "And why is that?" he asked.

James peered back at him, pausing as if trying to think of a reply other than the truth. He gave up. "I may have mentioned to her about the glass dome," he admitted begrudgingly.

Sirius started to react, but James had more to say. "And also about you going into the Room of Requirement after hours," he added.

"Anything else?" Sirius asked dryly.

James looked up in thought. "Oh yeah," he remembered, "and also that you'd brought a Muggle into the school and we don't know where she came from or how to get her back."

Sirius stared back at him as if lost for words. "Well thanks, Prongs," he said sarcastically, "At least I know I can always count on you."

James looked hurt. "You _can_ count on me," he insisted. "Just…maybe not where Lily is concerned. You know I can't keep anything from her."

Sirius rolled his eyes, glancing back at Lucy. "I'm going to be expelled," he realised.

"Hello Miss Hamilton." An unexpected voice behind them cut off them off immediately.

Lucy flinched at the sound of her family name. She had not told anyone that.

An elderly man in long robes stood before them, his expression unflinchingly serene behind his half-moon spectacles. A red-haired girl stood just behind him, looking both defiant and guilty in equal measure.

Lucy gazed at the two new additions, not needing to be told who _they_ were.

Lily was as beautiful as porcelain doll, the distinct colours of her scarlet hair and bright green eyes visible even from Lucy's distance. Professor Dumbledore's long white hair and beard, sitting on top of rich purple robes, made him look far too magical and out of place even for the Gryffindor Common Room.

As a matter of fact, Lucy couldn't think of a room where he wouldn't stand out.

The rest of the students' attention pricked at the sight of the Headmaster in the Common Room. It wasn't every day that Professor Dumbledore graced their quarters - something important must be going on.

The innocuous glass dome that had apparently transported Lucy to Hogwarts was cupped gently in his hands, and he appraised it as one might consider the options on a menu.

His keen blue eyes flickered upward towards them.

"Where did you find this, Mr Black?"

Sirius's jaw clenched. It was clear he did not particularly want to share his after-hours excursions into the Room of Requirement with the Headmaster.

Dumbledore seemed to sense that he would not like the answer to his question.

"Perhaps this is a conversation more suited to the privacy of my office?" he suggested calmly.

.o.

With a palpable air of grace, the Headmaster lowered himself onto the chair behind the desk in his office, placing the glass object safely down. He steepled his fingers together and waited patiently for everyone to take the various seats he had conjured in front of him.

He proffered a sweetie bowl before speaking.

"Now then," he said, raising his silvery eyebrows above his glasses, "would someone be kind enough to detail the events leading up to this young lady's untimely appearance in Hogwarts? Omitting nothing, if you please," he added, lifting a cautionary forefinger and taking the opportunity to help himself to a sherbet lemon.

Remus spoke first, knowing that Sirius would want to avoid any questioning for as long as possible.

"Well, Professor," he began, clearing his throat awkwardly.

He went on to tell Dumbledore everything he personally knew about Lucy's sudden appearance; Sirius showing them the glass dome, the sinister looking black sand that had swirled inside it, the scene of her being grilled by the teacher in her school classroom, and finally how they had found her sprawled unconscious in his bed.

"Black sand?" Dumbledore repeated, his expression suddenly keen.

"Does that mean something bad?" Peter asked worriedly.

Dumbledore looked over at him gravely. "In magical circles, grains of sand are most commonly associated with time travel, Mr Pettigrew," he said, letting the words sit on the air for a second. "If my theory is correct, the black sand you saw within the glass is in fact one of the collections of the sands of time. It would make the contraption a Timekeeper. Incredibly rare." His tone was almost accusatory.

He peered over at Remus. "Unfortunately, that still does not enlighten me as to how you came to be in possession of it," he stated smoothly.

Remus glanced furtively at Sirius, who seemed defeated.

"There's a secret room in the castle," Sirius explained, resigned, "called The Room of Requirement. It's unplottable, only shows up when you need it to." He seemed to stop and collect himself before he spoke the next part.

"I've been using it to sneak around after-hours. I found the glass dome in the hidden objects section."

Lucy sat in stunned silence. This was the first time she had heard exactly how she had come to be there. Sirius had seen _her_ in a glass dome in The Room of Requirement. It was ridiculous and frightening and impossible.

There was an extremely uncomfortable pause as Dumbledore contemplated what had been said in silence.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally spoke.

"That was a remarkably ill-advised, not to mention dangerous hobby you chose, Mr Black," he said in a controlled voice. "As one of our more intelligent, socially-aware students, you possess full knowledge of the opportunity that a secret room in the castle could present to opportune dark wizards."

Sirius had not given a thought that the Room could be discovered and used by anyone else.

"In addition to this," Dumbledore continued, "by acting so carelessly, you have succeeded in making Miss Hamilton the leading factor in a problem that was not of her making."

Sirius looked away. He didn't know what the Headmaster wanted him to say. The damage was done. He could not take it back now regardless.

Dumbledore peered over at Lucy.

"In any case," he said, "we find ourselves duty-bound to help young Miss Hamilton find her way home."

.o.

Peter threw his hand out to the little bonbon dish in the middle of Dumbledore's desk and secreted another jelly bean.

Glancing around to check that everyone was still preoccupied in trying to sort out the Muggle, he tossed it into his mouth. He pretended to rest his chin on his hand while he chewed furiously behind his palm.

He held back a gag. It was dog poo flavour.

"Let us make the educated assumption that Miss Hamilton's arrival here was triggered not only by the Timekeeper in our reality, but also by something in her own," Dumbledore continued, apparently oblivious to Peter slowly turning a sickly shade of green.

"Forming a connection of sorts," he elucidated. "I believe it was this connection that brought you into Hogwarts," he informed Lucy.

She nodded silently. It was the only reaction she could think to give. She still wasn't entirely sure that any of this was really happening.

"What I am yet to discover," he continued, "is how, or if, this connection can be re-activated. Not knowing what it was on your person that the Timekeeper formed a connection with makes it rather difficult to perform any solid theorising."

At that moment her daydream hit reality with a harsh thud. What if reforming this connection and solving the puzzle was the only way her body would let her wake up to her real life?

"Please, try not to concern yourself just yet," he told her, as if sensing her anxiety. "Rest assured that we will find a way for you to return to your world."

He rose from his desk and made his way to the door, opening it for them to leave.

"In the meantime, I would suggest you take advantage of your time here. I will make an arrangement with the staff for you to sit in amongst seventh year lessons, shadowing a trusted student at all times, of course," Dumbledore added.

"That rules any of this lot out then," Lily muttered under her breath.

Dumbledore smiled pleasantly. "I presume you have not been presented with a wand?" he asked Lucy.

"In my world magic doesn't exist. At all," she replied, furrowing her brow at the ludicrousness that she would have a wand. The rest of the group seemed surprised by her admission.

Dumbledore nodded. "Very well. In that case I will speak to the staff regarding your observation only in lessons and notify you as soon as I have word."

He paused to think. "Perhaps a Sorting could be arranged?" he mused. "To house you would invariably put you in the care of like-minded students, something that you may find a comfort. I take it you know what a Sorting is?"

She answered in the affirmative, not registering the fact that the Headmaster had presumed she would know about the Sorting Hat.

"It may also make the students more ready to accept your sudden presence," Dumbledore added. He gestured for them to exit through the door. "I'll leave it with you."

Before Lucy could pass, he turned to her and murmured in an undertone, "I, personally, have _never_ had the pleasure of experiencing a dream quite as realistic as this... have you, Miss Hamilton?"

She froze, staring into his piercing blue eyes. He was right; it was becoming more frighteningly real by the second.

.o.

"Where is Lucy staying tonight?" Lily demanded as they descended the twisting staircase out of Dumbledore's office. "She can't spend the rest of her time in with you lot. The first night must have been bad enough."

She gave Lucy a sympathetic look. "You can stay in the Head Girl's Dormitory with me tonight, if you want?"

"Dumbledore's fine with her staying in Simon's bed while he's in the Hospital Wing," Sirius cut in.

Both Remus and Lucy's gaze darted to him in surprise.

Sensing them, he hoped that they wouldn't open their mouths. He had brought her here, accidentally or not. He was not about to miss out on the aftermath.

He was also well aware that if McGonagall found out a girl was sleeping in the seventh year boys' dormitory, her tightly wound bun would pop itself from her head like a cork and release a tumult of spectacular fireworks. It added to the appeal.

Lily remained unconvinced. "Since when did Dumbledore say a girl could stay in the boys' Dormitory?" she demanded.

"There's no space in with the girls," Sirius replied easily. "At least she has her own bed if she stays with us."

"Until Simon leaves the Hospital Wing and wants his bed back," she corrected.

"Well, when he does, I'm sure Lucy here will be only too eager to sleep on the Head Girl's floor while you're tucked up in the double bed."

"I would've let her sleep in the bed with me," Lily grumbled.

She addressed Lucy directly. "Listen, if any of them try anything tonight -or you just get sick of the rancid smell," she added pointedly, "you're more than welcome to come and join me."

Lucy thanked her. She might need to take her up on the offer if she was stuck there long enough.

.o.

Lily and James had parted ways with them to begin their walk to the Head's Dormitory.

"You go on ahead," Sirius called to Remus and Peter. Remus shot him a questioning look, but did not say anything.

Waiting for them to disappear up the boys' staircase, Sirius beckoned Lucy over to one side.

"Listen," he started, his voice low so as not to be overheard, "I feel like I should tell you that I never intended on your being trapped here. In fact, I'm not really sure how it happened myself," he added.

She stared up at him, surprised by his sudden admission.

He glanced around as if to check no one was listening in, as if building himself up to tell her something.

"I try not to make a habit of this," he said, "but-" there was a short pause, "I apologise." It was as if saying sorry had cost him physical exertion.

He seemed unable to meet her eyes as he said it, his gaze focused on what seemed to be her ear, or somewhere roundabout.

It was strangely endearing.

Suddenly she didn't care that she was trapped in a strange place with no immediate hope of getting home, because Sirius Black was standing in front of her. More real than she had ever imagined him. Larger than life.

And for once, unable to meet her stare.

She found it oddly empowering.

If her dream was to end tonight, she knew that she would kick herself if she had not taken the opportunity to wrap her arms around him and hold him just one time.

Using his unpredicted vulnerability to propel her forwards, she reached out towards him.

As she hugged him to her, he stood stock still with his arms hanging numbly by his sides, his palms facing up as if they were asking a question that he could not currently put into words.

She was pleased to find that he smelt just as good as his borrowed t-shirt had the night before. The warmth of his body crept into her. The realism of him was intense.

She felt him lower his head to look at her. A stirring sensation crawled downwards from her waistband when his static hands finally moved to her back. They became more certain, flattening out against her.

It made her body convulse, and all of her newfound boldness disapparated in an instant.

She pulled away, her hair lingering on his clothes as they parted.

"Night," she whispered quickly, ignoring his speculative gaze as she hurried up the stairs to bed.


	5. A Muggle in Hogwarts

**Chapter 5**

 **A Muggle in Hogwarts.**

"Who is _that_?" Mary Macdonald wondered aloud, staring openly at the unknown blonde girl that had just walked into the History of Magic lesson with Lily.

Professor Binns turned around painfully slowly. "Hmm?" he droned.

"That," Mary replied a little impatiently, pointing at the girl now taking a seat at the back of the class.

Binns drifted over to his desk and pulled out a note that had been issued from Dumbledore earlier that morning, detailing the presence of a new temporary student.

"That would be Miss Hamilton, I suppose," he drawled without looking up.

With that he returned unperturbed to writing a seemingly endless stream of notes on minor Troll disputes over the last century.

.o.

Lucy gratefully took the seat that Lily had saved for her at the very back of the History of Magic class - her first venture as the 'trusted student' Lucy would be shadowing in classes while she was at Hogwarts.

She could feel the rest of the class's gaze burning into her, wondering who on earth she was. None of them would know the truth about her Muggle origins or arrival to the school. To them, she would just be the new witch.

Professor Binns' body, if that was what you could call the now incorporeal shadow of what used to be the human teacher, floated left and right in front of the blackboard. His white chalk formed cursive so decorative that it was almost unintelligible. Lucy couldn't take her eyes off him. It was a real-life _ghost_.

Nothing at all like the ones on film. Professor Binns was strangely three-dimensional and luminescent. For an everyday muggle it was an incredibly overwhelming sight.

"Lucy," Lily hissed, trying to get her attention. She held out a quill and parchment for her to take. "In case you feel like making notes on any of the lessons. Might attract less attention if you've got something to do rather than just sitting there watching," she explained.

"Thanks," Lucy replied, taking the proffered olde-world stationary.

She dipped her quill into Lily's ink pot that was now placed in between them and started to instinctively copy from the board.

After a while it seemed to do the trick and people stopped eyeing her openly, moving on to the far more important task of gossiping amongst themselves, or catching up on their sleep through Binns' lecture.

Binns was completely oblivious to everything.

A crumpled ball of parchment flung itself across her desk top stopping her inexperienced quill mid-sentence. Frowning, she flattened it out.

 _'What on earth are you finding interesting enough to write about?'_ it asked.

She peered around to see where it had come from. From across the room Sirius looked back at her incredulously.

She scrawled out an explanation:

 _'Lily said making notes would attract less attention'_

Scrunching the parchment back up, she sent it hurtling across the room. It flew high over Sirius's head and landed by the window. He jogged to reclaim it.

From the table closest to Professor Binns' desk, Mary Macdonald noticed and narrowed her eyes.

"Professor Binns," she called, "The new girl is throwing things across the class."

Professor Binns continued his lecture in his monotonous voice, undeterred.

Sirius barked a loud laugh. The students who had been dozing started at the noise before returning their heads to the desk.

"Nice try though, Mary," he said caustically.

Mary cheeks blotched. She started whispering behind her hand to her friend.

Seeing what was going on, Lily shot Lucy a glare. "You won't get away with that in other lessons," she warned under her breath.

Lucy held up a yielding hand, going back to doodling on her parchment - she had given up trying to decipher the Professor's scrawls - suddenly hoping that Lily might relinquish her adopted role as her 'Muggle Protector' after the first lot of lessons were out of the way.

"How's the 'attracting less attention' going?" Sirius's sudden voice made her jump. Her heart skittered as he pulled up a chair between herself and Lily.

"Go back to your seat, Sirius," Lily said tiredly, clearly seeing his presence as a nuisance.

"Is that a request from Lily or a direct Head Girl order?" he enquired mildly.

"Both."

"Good to know." With that he swivelled on his stool, putting his back to her to face Lucy.

"You have terrible luck," he told her conspiratorially, unperturbed by Lily's angry sigh behind him. "I can't think of a worse first lesson to kick off your Hogwarts education."

He looked over at Binns who now seemed to be talking more to himself than the class as if reciting lines. "I honestly can't."

Lucy was extremely pleased to find that he wasn't going to mention her bizarrely unprecented bodily contact last night.

She noticed that Mary, along with a few of the other students who were actually still conscious, were peering over at them. Probably wondering what Sirius could want with the new girl. He himself either didn't notice them or didn't care.

He glanced down, looking at her doodle. His head tilted, as if it would become clearer at a different angle. Frowning, he asked, "What is it?"

She was taken aback. "A cat," she replied, thinking that it had been pretty obvious what it was. "What's wrong with my cat?"

"That's what I would like to know, the poor thing," he stared pointedly at its wonky face and squiggly back.

She looked up at him. The light in his eyes danced playfully at her, his lips tugging up at the corners.

"Hey," she said defensively with an uncertain grin, not sure whether she should be offended. "I'm not used to using a quill."

"Pass it here a second," he requested. His hand moved expertly across her parchment as he sketched. In what seemed like seconds he was done.

"Voila," he said, sweeping the paper up so she could see it.

He had drawn an ink picture of a big dog, amazingly detailed considering his speed.

"It's Padfoot," she realised.

Sirius was impressed. "You remembered."

"How could I forget? He nearly knocked me down the boys' staircase."

He shifted in his seat slightly. "Watch this," he said, eager to change the subject.

With a glance around he gestured towards the parchment. Almost instantly, the drawing of his dog sprang to life and promptly began chasing the cat doodle around the page. The cat's tongue lolled foolishly at it raced across her notes to get away from the miniature Padfoot.

She couldn't stop herself from crying out in amazement, quickly clamping a hand over her mouth to shut herself up. He watched her reaction, a smile quirking at his lips.

Mary continued to glare over at them from across the room, hoping that they would notice her sneer. She had given up hope of Binns acting like an actual teacher and telling them off for talking while he was.

"Poor cat," Lucy said after a while, watching her little moggy scampering frantically around.

He swept his hand across the paper again. At his behest, the dog turned on its heel as the cat tore after it. The miniature Padfoot bounded from sentence to sentence. This time it looked more like they were playing.

"I can't believe you can control whatever you want just like that," she whispered, a throb of jealousy accompanying her awe.

"I'd be happy to let you play with my wand," he told her with a shrug, "but Dumbledore might frown on it."

Her gaze darted up to him suspiciously, wondering if he had meant it to sound like innuendo, but he looked back at her, his face a picture of innocent serenity. She must have imagined his mouth twitch.

"Sirius, if you don't go back over to your seat I will take House Points from you," Lily voice seethed to them in the background.

He didn't even bother to turn around. "Dearest Lily, I'm not sure if you've forgotten the fact that we're in the _same_ house,"

"I don't care," she replied. "It would be worth it to not have to endure your attempts at flirting."

Sirius got up from the stool in one fluid motion. "I'll remember that the next time I have to listen to you and James refer to one another as Snugglemonster and Lilykins."

Lily's face dropped. "We do not call each other that!" she fumed, though her ears had turned suspiciously red.

"'Course you don't."

As he passed her chair, his eyes met with Lucy's again for the briefest of moments, and then he was gone, leaving butterflies to erupt in her chest.

.o.

"What's next on your timetable?" she asked Lily an hour later. Binns had finally realised the lesson had ended and dismissed the class, and Sirius had already gone on to his next lesson.

"Ooh," said Lily animatedly, checking her school diary. "You're going to like this one. It's Charms."

"Who's your friend, Lily?" Mary Macdonald demanded as they made their way down the corridor.

"Mary," she greeted in surprise. "This is Lucy, she's staying here from Beauxbatons."

Lucy raised her eyebrows. It seemed Lily had come with a prepared backstory.

Mary looked at Lucy unsmilingly. "So you're French, then?"

"Her parents travelled," Lily replied quickly, trying to save her from any awkwardness.

"Can she actually speak?" Mary asked with a laugh. "It's funny, you seemed to have plenty to say to Sirius."

Lucy stared back at her, now she really was lost for words.

Mary rolled her eyes, turning her back on them and striding away.

"What was that about?" she said when it had sunk in.

"She has a soft spot for Sirius," Lily replied. "Thinks nobody knows, but she makes it obvious enough. Probably best to steer clear of her best you can," she advised earnestly.

"O-kay."

"Who know what goes on in that girl's mind?" Lily shook her head, leading the rest of the way until they reached the large Charms classroom door.

.o.

"How did Lucy go in the lessons?" Remus asked Sirius that evening. They had eaten as soon as dinner had hit the tables and had since convened to the library.

Sirius had tagged along hoping to find a book on Muggle transportation. He felt like his motorcycle could do with a tune up that magic just couldn't quite touch.

Sirius shrugged. "Not bad," he replied. "Think Lily's taking her role as protector a bit too seriously though," he added as an afterthought.

Remus smiled wryly, taking a seat at a nearby table. "Ah right."

"Need a permission slip to look in their direction," Sirius murmured absentmindedly, scanning the book spines.

"To be fair, she _is_ Head Girl," Remus replied. "She can't exactly let you do whatever you want in lessons right under her nose. People would say it was preferential treatment."

Sirius moved his head non-committedly, pulling a book entitled "The Magic of Muggles" from the shelf and cracking it open to transportation.

"Did you get a look at the lunar calendar for December?" he asked, looking up from the book briefly.

Remus nodded silently.

"It's not going to be easy getting you away with the Yule Ball going on at the same time," Sirius observed. "People are going to be everywhere."

Remus continued to do his homework without speaking.

"I'll speak to James about it," Sirius relented, sensing his friend wasn't up to broaching the subject. "See if we can come up with a plan."

"Thanks," Remus replied quietly. "I appreciate it."

.o.

"I thought Professor Flitwick was going to pass out when you summoned that boy's glasses," Lucy said, extremely impressed by Lily's display of wordless _and_ wandless magic.

Lily smiled proudly, helping herself to a well-deserved roast dinner in the Great Hall.

"I used to experiment before I came to Hogwarts," she confessed. "When I was young I'd make little things happen; getting the prettiest flowers to bloom early and things like that."

Her words triggered a memory in Lucy of a scene in the books describing Lily and Severus Snape's childhood.

She pressed her lips together, suddenly remembering the other, less pleasant, details of the books. She wasn't sure why she hadn't warned anyone about their awful fate yet. Perhaps she was bending to an overriding selfishness of not wanting the fun of her dream to end on a sour note.

Besides, Hogwarts and its inhabitants were fictional. It surely didn't matter what she warned them about. She didn't need to spoil things by bringing up petty details like their best friend, Peter's, traitorous intentions.

"What's the matter?" Lily asked concerned, pausing her eating to look at Lucy's agitated face. "Feeling homesick?"

Lucy nodded, helping herself to food that she no longer fancied. "Yeah," she said, unable, or unwilling, to admit what was really bothering her. "It must feel amazing to be able to do magic," she commented, trying to distract herself.

Lily's enthusiasm lit up her emerald eyes. "Do you know what, I think being a Muggle-born makes it even more exciting," she admitted. "It's like emerging from a grey world into full technicolour. Like when Dorothy first enters Oz." She laughed embarrassedly and shrugged.

"No, I get what you mean," Lucy assured her. Just being at Hogwarts felt like finally seeing the world as it should be, even if it wasn't real.

"Alright, girls?" James appeared at Lily's side, gave her a peck on the cheek and immediately started stacking food onto his plate.

"How you been?" he asked through a mouthful of food.

Lily decided it was best to ignore his table etiquette, or lack thereof. "I practiced wandless and wordless magic today," she beamed, "a summoning spell."

James was so impressed with her that he swallowed abruptly and stopped eating. He looked into her eyes and shook his head as if he was constantly impressed by her. "Is there anything you can't do?" Taking the side of her face in his hand he leaned in to give her a peck on the mouth.

When they started staring into one another's eyes, mumbling and giggling together, Lucy got up from her seat in front of them and left the hall as quickly as her feet would carry her. She would just skip dinner and meet them in the Common Room later. No amount of banquet was worth watching the couple dine on one another more than the food in front of them.

.o.

"Lucy?" a voice called behind her as she took a step out. She turned to find Remus walking towards her.

"Sirius mentioned your lessons went well," he said.

"Everyone looks at me as if I broke wind every time I walk into the classroom, but apart from that." She shot him a thumbs up.

He smiled uncertainly at her choice of words.

"The perils of being the new face," he said, his voice helpfully sympathetic. "Maybe you should take up Dumbledore's offer of being Sorted? It might help you feel like you belong a bit more."

"Maybe," she relented. She wasn't sure why she had been avoiding Dumbledore's offer.

"Let's just hope you end up in Gryffindor, eh?" he chuckled.

Lucy recoiled. She hadn't even thought about that.

"I wouldn't worry," he tried to reassure her too late. "The hat doesn't make mistakes. It knows what it's doing."

That's precisely what she was worried about. With her luck she would probably end up in Slytherin.

"Anyway, I better get going," he said, getting the sense that he'd put his foot in it. "Are you with Lily?" He glanced around as if the red head would be hiding around a corner somewhere.

"Yeah," Lucy lied. "I guess I'll see you later?" She looked expectantly at him, waiting for him to leave so that she could carry on up the Grand Staircase unattended without arousing his suspicion.

Remus did so somewhat unwillingly, visibly not wanting to leave her alone.

Once he was safely out of eyesight, she reassessed her plans; he had planted a seed in her mind.

If she really did want to walk around as though she even slightly belonged at Hogwarts, perhaps Dumbledore was right about being Sorted. And surely he wouldn't have offered it if he thought that there was a chance she would be left to fend for herself in a strange House.

She thought back to the questioning stares and whispered comments that she had endured in the lessons during the course of this first day alone, all because people had no idea who she was or what she was doing there.

She realised that she had no choice.

It was only after she stepped a resolute foot onto the Grand Staircase that it dawned on her that she had absolutely no idea where Dumbledore's office actually was. She urged herself to remember the books, trying to think whether they mentioned the location.

She peered around; there was no one she could ask even if she wanted to.

She was left with limited options. She could go back to the Great Hall with James and Lily, try and find Remus and Sirius in the library. Or she could make a go of finding the office herself.

The idea of the first two filled her with an inexplicable discomfit. Without further hesitation, she set off up the endless stairs.

Her overactive imagination started to wander along with her ascent, imagining impossible scenarios between herself and Sirius and how they might play out.

Funnily enough, they always seemed to end with him throwing himself at her feet, but she got the disappointing impression that this version of Sirius would never lower himself to perform such an unbidden romantic gesture.

It was because of her incessant daydreaming that she did not notice when the staircase she was on began to move beneath her. Nor did she immediately realise what was happening when her left leg plunged suddenly downwards.

She let out a loud cry of shock.

Her fall came to a stop with a painful jolt. She looked down to find her entire left leg had been swallowed by the staircase, her right leg splayed awkwardly back behind her.

She pushed up hard from the floor, but the previously liquid concrete of the stair had solidified firmly around the top of her thigh.

Craning her neck as best she could, she peered over her shoulder. The staircase was completely deserted. If the stairs decided to switch around and move her to an unreachable wall, she could very well end up stuck there all night.

She froze when she felt a gentle breeze hit the back of her neck, almost as if someone had approached her from behind. She felt herself shudder, the small hairs on her body standing on end.

She heaved herself upwards frantically, feeling a blistering wave of panic roll over her. The concrete gave her leg a pinch as if in reply.

"Help!" she exclaimed, desperation taking over. "Is anyone there? Please. I'm trapped!"

There was a moment's silence then a voice came from directly behind her. She was definitely not alone now.

"Well, well, well," said the definitely male person standing over the top of her. "What have we here?"

She could tell from his tone that he was amused at her expense, and mentally cursed whoever it was. There was a beat before she felt strong hands hook firmly beneath her arms and pull her upwards. She stumbled back into the stranger's chest, but he stood firm. He swivelled her around to face him and set her firmly on her feet.

The first thing she noticed was his eyes. They were so dark they seemed unnatural. His short hair stuck up around his head at strange angles, in a shade of black that seemed to jar against his pale skin tone. It made his features oddly striking.

"No wonder you fell through the step," he said, examining her. "Do you always space out like that?"

She blinked, perturbed by him. She had grown comfortable with Hogwarts as long as she was in the safety of familiar company. This was unknown territory.

She glanced quickly around and upon finding the rest of the staircase still deserted decided she needed to get away. Quickly.

"Thanks for the help." She waved half-heartedly over her shoulder and made to carry on up the stairs, but she had only managed three steps when the boy had caught up with her.

"Hey, wait up Spacegirl, where are you off to anyway?"

She stopped and he copied her almost instantly, like a shadow she couldn't shake off.

She turned her head to face him, "Spacegirl?"

"Suits you, doesn't it?" he said with a smirk.

"I'm going to find Dumbledore," she said, continuing faster up the stairs. The strange boy's tall frame took the stairs two at a time with ease.

"Oh." He stopped his pursuit suddenly, making her look back in surprise.

"You do realise you're heading in the wrong direction, don't you? Dumbledore's office is over that way." He pointed.

She paused, wondering if he was telling the truth. "Well can you give me directions?"

The boy shook in head as if she was being silly. "You'd only get lost. Come on, I'll take you."

She reigned in her irritation at being spoken to like an idiot. "I don't even know who you are," her voice betrayed her impatience.

"I have unique remedy for that," he replied, his voice full of easy confidence. "My name's Tom. Thomas Boswell, if you're feeling hard to please." He looked up at her unimpressed expression, "Which I sense you are."

Tom took a step up toward her and leaned closer. "This is the part where you tell me your name," he mock whispered.

She looked at him dubiously before relenting. "Lucy."

"Just Lucy?"

She stared back at him steadily.

"In that case, it's nice to meet you Lucy; pretty, but unnecessarily mysterious." He motioned for her to follow him. "Think I'll stick to calling you Spacegirl."

She let out a breath, if she really was going in the wrong direction she knew she didn't really have a choice but to follow him, for fear of getting lost and accidently stumbling into a restricted area.

"Well try not to seem too happy about being with me, Spacegirl, I might actually think you're grateful that I saved you."

"I said thank you," she reminded him.

He glanced sideways at her. "So, are you new or something?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Nah. Well, yeah," he admitted. "Mainly 'cause I haven't seen you around before. Oh, and also you got fooled by the Trick Step. Usually that only happens to first years."

"Great."

He grinned. "Don't feel bad, we would never have met if you hadn't needed rescuing."

"Wouldn't that be a shame," she muttered under her breath.

He laughed, apparently hearing her. "Will you stop with the tumult of gratitude?" he joked, pretending to hold back the invisible force of it. "It'll go straight to my head."

She felt her mouth twitch despite herself. "What was your name again?"

"See, I knew you weren't listening."

She gave him a look.

"My name's Tom," he said, clearly enjoying himself.

"What House are you in?" she asked, suddenly curious. She wanted nothing more than for him to reassure her that he wasn't in Slytherin.

"I'd prefer it if you'd guess," he teased.

Clearly he wasn't the reassuring type. When she glanced over at him she saw that he wore an impish smile.

"Really?" she asked.

"Interested what you will say," he replied casually. "A person's House says a lot about them, it will be interesting to find out what kind of first impression I give." He raised an eyebrow suggestively.

She pretended to measure him up thoughtfully.

"Well, from what I've seen of you so far, I'd probably say…Slytherin." She looked across at him; if he really was in Slytherin perhaps his reaction would give the game away.

He stared back at her. Any good humour had filtered from his face. "Do you honestly think that?"

"No," she admitted, a little taken aback by his reaction.

He shook his head, his expression softening. "I can tell you're going to be trouble."

.o.

They walked on in silence for a while, Tom leading the way off the staircase and along a corridor. The only sound was their footsteps on the hard floor.

He eventually yielded, "I'm in Gryffindor, by the way, in case you were wondering."

She nodded.

"And you?" he asked.

Lucy paused. "Technically I don't have one at the moment," she said carefully.

"You haven't even been Sorted?" he asked, surprised.

"That's the reason I was going to Dumbledore."

"Where've you been sitting at mealtimes, then?" he wondered. "If you don't have a House."

"Gryffindor," she said slowly, knowing what the next question would be.

He frowned. "Why Gryffindor?"

She tried to invent a reason that didn't involve the Marauders accidently snatching her from a different world and effectively ensuring that they were the only people she knew well enough to sit with.

"I'm friends with Lily," she replied. It was half true. They would probably get to be friends, eventually.

"So you sit with James and that lot then?" he asked, a furrow forming in between his brows now. It seemed he knew exactly who Lily was dating then.

Lucy stared at his strange reaction. "Yeah, why?" she asked slowly.

Tom tried to shrug it off.

"Tell me," she pressed.

"Seriously, it's nothing. Just shocked you're friends with a bunch of lads is all."

She frowned but she let it drop. He obviously wasn't going to tell her the truth even if he did have a problem with them. She briefly wondered what Tom thought of Sirius, but she couldn't imagine any self- respecting boy _not_ liking Sirius.

.o.

The recognisable bronze gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office loomed over them. She had been so wrapped up in their conversation that she had not even noticed her destination approaching.

The gargoyle slipped gracefully out of the way as the previously hidden staircase twisted in front of them; somebody had already triggered it.

An intricately slippered foot stepped on to the floor in front of them, accompanied by a beautiful set of mahogany and cream trimmed robes. Lucy wondered if it was just coincidence that Dumbledore had met them, especially as she would not have known the password to get in. Perhaps nothing was coincidence as far as the Headmaster was concerned.

She turned to say bye to Tom, but when she looked he had gone. Her eyes darted around for him. This was not helping her sanity.

Dumbledore smiled at her. "Mr Boswell is a good student," he said calmly, "perhaps despite first appearances. Can I be of any service to you?" he offered.

She swallowed, conjuring bravery she didn't feel. "I wanted to talk to you about being Sorted, in as much as I would like to be really."


	6. Sorted

**Chapter 6**

 **Sorted**.

A day later, Lucy found herself being practically pushed into the Great Hall.

Lily moved her hand from side to side on her back in what Lucy could only imagine was supposed to be a comforting rubbing motion, but which also had the added effect of forcing her onwards.

The high ceilinged room was already full of the hubbub of students ready for dinner, but there was something different about their mealtime tonight. The Sorting Hat had been placed in the middle of the stage at the front of the hall. The moth-eaten mound of fabric lay deceptively inanimate on its small wooden stool.

Lucy could hear snippets of conversations as she and Lily attempted to locate a spare seat at the Gryffindor table; people were wondering why there was going to be a Sorting when it wasn't the start of a new term.

If they didn't pay any attention to her now, she knew that it would all change in around 10 minutes time. She was the reason the Sorting Hat was out. She was already beginning to regret her decision. Dumbledore had made her Sorting sound like it would be a private affair. She had most definitely not been aware that it would be conducted in front of everyone in a bizarre mid-year ceremony.

It now seemed to be an entirely counterproductive move in trying to avoid people's confused gaze and whispers. This was going to attract them even more.

She wondered if it was too late to pull out.

A hush swept over the Great Hall and she realised with some horror that Professor Dumbledore had already stepped up to his podium. She and Lily quickly took the nearest spare seat on the Gryffindor bench. She was too nervous to even check where The Marauders were sat along the table.

Dumbledore's calm voice echoed strangely around the hall and she couldn't help but think that this would be the perfect time for her to wake up from her dream.

.o.

"As you may already be aware, we have a new face in our midst," Dumbledore started. A few faces turned knowingly towards her, but most just looked bewildered.

"Miss Hamilton has joined us from overseas as part of the European Student Wizardry Exchange Programme."

Lucy marvelled at the lie.

"She will be a student here at Hogwarts for the foreseeable future," he continued, "and as a Hogwarts student, I hope you will treat her as one of our own as she finds her feet in our school."

His expectant gaze slid over the room, instigating a murmur of accord from the tables.

"Now I understand you may have already noticed the Sorting Hat," he continued, his eyes dancing with merriment – it was the only thing that people had been gossiping about since they had arrived in the hall. "So without further ado, would Lucy Hamilton please take to the stage to commence her Sorting!"

There was a muted clamour to get a good look at her as she forced herself to leave her seat. A few of the Gryffindors looked questioningly over, perhaps wondering why she had been sat with them if she hadn't been Sorted yet.

She couldn't help but notice Mary Macdonald's sneering face as she walked past. Mary whispered something to the girl next to her behind her hand and they both laughed loudly. She knew they would like nothing more than for the hat to cry out 'Slytherin'. That would put a giant full stop to Sirius wanting anything to do with her.

She knew he would be somewhere there among the sea of faces, seeing how uncomfortable she looked. She straightened her back and forced her expression into one of practiced nonchalance.

Guiding her to the stool in the centre of the stage, Professor McGonagall rested the hat gently on her head.

The aged cloth sprang to life like an animatronic, alarming her. Feeling it squirming around on her head, she had to resist her first instinct to throw it off.

A deep rumbling soon filled her ears that she felt sure that no-one else could hear. It would provide no intricate rhyming verse just for her, she realised with relief.

Hundreds of expectant faces stared openly up at her while she waited for the hat's decision.

It was only then that she spotted him. Sirius was seated halfway along the Gryffindor table, a strange expression on his face. He sat as still as a statue, like a predator watching their prey.

The rummaging inside her head felt more intense and she heard a mention of 'Ravenclaw' from somewhere in her subconscious. She cried out internally, her eyes darting back to Sirius. He seemed to notice it, blinking in surprise.

She willed the hat to change its decision. Surely she must have some potential for bravery. Being at Hogwarts with the Marauders would surely be enough to install daring in anyone. Besides, if this really was all a dream, surely she should get to choose her own house?

The hat seemed to listen patiently, rifling through her aspirations and potential again and again, and again.

A minute seemed to drag out into eternity before it made its final decision.

"Gryffindor!" it shouted.

She released a staggered breath. She had not expected her revolt against its decision to actually work. She watched the Gryffindor table erupt, and Sirius's former intensity cracked into a single burst of shocked laughter.

James had begun to bang his hands on the table in a chant. "Gryf-fin-dor – Gryf-fin-dor!"

Soon the entire table had joined in.

She took the Sorting Hat off carefully and began to step down from the stool when she noticed something fall from it onto the floor. She looked at it for a second before bending down cautiously to pick it up. It looked like a branch from a pale tree, the wood carved into decorative scrolls at the base.

Turning the branch over in her hands, she realised with a sudden jolt that it was a wand. She looked around questioningly and noticed Dumbledore catch her eye from the other side of the stage. His hands were clasped in front of him, his expression serene.

Hearing the chanting continuing in the background, she stashed the wand quickly as she made her way down the steps towards the cheers. Now was not the time for questions.

Numerous hands seemed to clap her back out of nowhere, with "Welcome to Gryffindor" thrown around like it was going out of fashion. She returned to her seat next to Lily, the red head's smile lighting up the room.

"Congratulations," she beamed, wrapping her into a hug. "You're one of us."

From a few seats down on the opposite side of the table, Sirius allowed his eyes to stray, looking around at the applauding crowd still clapping James's chant. He found that they were drawn back to a dark haired boy, who seemed to be the only one still calmly seated.

The boy clapped slowly and deliberately, a peculiar smile creeping onto his face. He seemed to be watching something intently. Sirius followed his gaze straight back to Lucy.

Even as Sirius looked on, he saw the boy raise his clapping hands toward her.

"Bravo," the boy mouthed when he caught her eye.

Sirius nudged James.

"Hey, Prongs," he called over the noise, "who's that?" He pointed openly at the pale, dark haired boy, who seemed not to notice.

James frowned to see. "The black haired one?" he asked. "That's Tom. He's a substitute Beater on our Quidditch team. Can hit them pretty hard too."

Sirius raised his eyebrow as he digested the information, but said no more.

.o.

"Welcome to the best house!" James boomed as Lily and Lucy entered the Gryffindor Common Room after dinner had ended.

Behind him a great red and gold firework zoomed towards the high ceiling and exploded triumphantly, shards of light swirling into the profile of a rearing lion.

He turned around to see it and laughed, "Well that went better than expected."

There was no usual smell of burning that accompanied Muggle fireworks, just dazzling light and intricacy.

"We could use a celebration," he told them, "and good old Luce here was kind enough to provide the perfect excuse." He draped a heavy arm over her shoulder and wrapped the other one around Lily's waist, drawing them further into the room.

Lifting a lazy hand, he pointed towards an antique record player. "Maestro, if you please?" The ginger haired fifth year stood next to it placed the needle of the record player down as requested, and popular music immediately filled the air.

Lucy glanced subconsciously around at the crowds.

James looked down at her, a knowing smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Looking for someone?"

She grimaced and looked away, refusing to give him the satisfaction of her fluster at being caught scanning the room for Sirius.

He laughed. "Last time I saw him he was over by the drinks," he said, releasing her and pointing her in the right direction, keeping his other hand securely around Lily's waist.

"I'll be over in a bit," Lily promised her as she began her navigation through the crowds.

"You're not going anywhere," James growled seductively, pulling her in towards him. She squealed and laughed as her face was buried in his broad chest.

.o.

The last of the crowds parted and Lucy spotted a recognisable head of dark hair by the drinks table. Sirius was chatting animatedly to a group of girls, handing them drinks in conjured glasses.

They smiled at him flirtatiously as they walked away, their hips swaying more than seemed naturally possible.

She waited for them to be gone before approaching.

"Hi," she said, standing behind him.

He glanced over his shoulder, realised who it was and turned around.

"Hi yourself," he responded with an easy grin. He put down the glass in his hand and held his palm out to her.

She looked blankly at it for a second before realising that he wanted her to shake it in congratulations. She accepted it, noticing how cool his skin felt against her own.

"I suppose I should be saying 'Welcome to Gryffindor'," he said.

Realising they were still holding hands despite the handshake ending, she pulled away quickly. He raised an eyebrow at her sudden movement, a familiar smirk quirking at the corner of his mouth.

"You know you had us worried for a moment back there," he confided, leaning down towards her, "it almost looked as if you were going to be placed in a different house."

She remembered the hat mentioning Ravenclaw, and the fight she'd had to change its mind. "You have no idea," she murmured.

"It's just as well," he replied. "It's easier than having to sneak you back in here every night."

She could tell that he really meant it.

He turned back to the table and grabbed a punch filled glass. "Drink?"

She took it from his hand. "Is it spiked?"

"Do you want it to be?"

"Yes." She needed it.

"Then yes," he admitted.

.o.

The last dregs of the party were finally filing off to bed. Regardless of the Sorting, it was still a weeknight and they would all have to get up early for lessons in the morning.

The amount of people now staggering their way up to the bedrooms was enough to rid anyone of any doubts regarding the strength of the punch.

At some point during the evening, Lily had managed to prise herself from James's arms and reclaimed her spot at Lucy's side. Dumbledore had trusted her with a duty of care, and she wasn't about to let him down any time soon.

With Sirius making his excuses shortly after Lily's arrival, the two girls had managed to strike up a conversation about Muggle life, comparing their favourite Muggle books, films, and music. While some of it was vastly out of date from any Lucy was familiar with, the classics Lily mentioned were ageless.

Remus sat next to them, nursing a Pumpkin Juice. He joined in every so often to share an anecdote or to offer his opinion on their tastes. Remus wasn't a fan of the mainstream, it turned out.

"Lucy," a voice called, drawing her attention away from Lily's enthused gushing about Gothic fiction.

"Tom," she stated, surprised to find him beckoning her over. She hadn't spoken to him since her rather ungraceful fall through the Trick Stair.

Remus looked between them both like he wanted to say something, but held it back as she got up to join the black haired boy.

She felt a hand hold her arm briefly and looked down to find Lily's worried face.

"You know him?" she asked, her expression pushing Lucy to say something if she wasn't comfortable going with the boy.

Lucy nodded reassuringly. "We met the other night, he helped me find Dumbledore's office," she explained.

Remus shifted uncomfortably, but Lily gave a nod.

"I'll be here if you need me," she said pointedly, eyeing Tom distrustfully.

Tom grinned as Lucy approached him. "I thought they were never going to let you go."

He surveyed her as if he had forgotten how she looked up close. "It was weird seeing a seventh year go up to be Sorted," he commented, "you usually only get to see the squeaky first years."

"Yeah it was a bit embarrassing," she admitted. "And when I say a bit, I mean a lot, obviously," she added, still experiencing flashbacks.

He chuckled. "Well you hid it well, Spacegirl."

"Again with the Spacegirl?"

"The more you moan about it, the more I'll say it."

She frowned at him.

"Aww," he said, "If you hate it that much I'll stop. Probably."

"I seriously don't get how you're in Gryffindor."

He brought his fist to his chest, "Heart of gold." He gestured to the Common Room portrait hole. "Wanna go for a walk?"

"Isn't it after hours?" she asked uncertainly.

Without warning, a flash of red appeared at her side.

"Come on, Lucy, we better be getting to bed. Early start tomorrow, remember?" Lily looked at Tom accusingly as though he had tried to lead her ward astray. Lucy wondered if she had been listening in the whole time.

As she let Lily guide her away, she felt something warm clasp her hand. She looked around in shock to see Tom holding on to her.

"I forgot to say well done," he said, his dark eyes pinning her with an unfamiliar sincerity. "And… I hope we get the chance to chat again some time. Properly, I mean," he added, with a glimpse at Lily.

Lucy stared back at him, her voice momentarily lost. His earnest expression looked odd on his usually light-hearted face. For some reason it made her pulse flutter.

His gaze moved past her.

She turned to find James had come to a stop behind them, his grin faltering when he saw Tom still holding her hand.

"Alright, James?" Tom asked, releasing Lucy from his grasp just as Sirius walked over to join them. Any of the softness on Tom's face had long since disapparated. Now it was all business.

"Tom," James acknowledged him in the same business-like manner. "You coming to Quidditch this weekend? Simon's still getting over his injuries so we'll need a Beater."

Tom gave a curt nod. "I'll be there."

Lucy felt somehow impressed that he was part of the Quidditch team, albeit a substitute.

"Night, all," Remus called from over by the seating area, waving a lazy hand as he walked to the staircase.

"Yeah, we should all get to bed," Lily agreed. "Lessons tomorrow."

As they went to walk away, Lucy glanced back at Tom still stood there. She was surprised when he gave her a wink in reply.

.o.

Lily and James left for the Heads Dormitory and the rest of the group continued up to the boys' staircase with Remus in the lead.

"Er, Sirius," Remus started, halting in his tracks as he opened the bedroom door. "Is it just me, or does Simon's bed look suspiciously full?"

Sure enough, the woollen blanket covering Simon's bed was moving gently up and down in silent breaths, the plumage of his bright blond hair showing just above the sheet.

He was back early from the Hospital Wing, and with him went Lucy's bed.

Sirius cursed under his breath.

Lucy wracked her brain. It was too late to share Lily's bed now, she was already long gone.

"Could I sleep on the sofas downstairs?" she wondered, unsure if there was some kind of rule against it.

The boys looked at one another doubtfully.

"If anyone was to see her there-"

"We can't just leave her on her own-"

"If Lily was to find out-"

They spoke quickly, trying to think their way out of it.

"You better stay down there with her," Remus said finally, giving Sirius an apologetic shrug. The fact that Lucy was even at Hogwarts in the first place was all Sirius's fault. Based on this, Remus wasn't about to give up his bed.

Sirius looked like he wanted to say something, but thought better of it.

"Fine."

Pulling the sheets from his bed and a spare from on top of the wardrobe, he led Lucy back down to the Common Room.

Flopping into the large armchair by the fire, he left her with the settee.

"I am going to murder Simon," he muttered violently, throwing the thicker blanket over to her and pulling the other over himself.

He gave a shudder, peering at the pathetic dying embers of the fire.

"Where are the House Elves when you need them?" he muttered.

Taking out his wand, he pointed it at the hearth. In an instant, a roar of flames exploded up from the grate. With the rush of heat, he let his grip relax on the blankets.

"That's better," Lucy breathed, letting her previously scrunched up legs stretch down the length of the now warm sofa.

"Glad you're comfortable," he drawled, his taller body not suited for the constraints of his makeshift bed.

Her face peered smugly at him over the top of her sheets.

"I've half a mind to make you swap," he threatened mutinously.

She tried to imagine how he might go about that, but the images it conjured made an inadvertently sly smile creep onto her face. She bit her lip hard, trying to calm her raging hormones.

He looked over at her as if he could read her mind.

She reached to pull one of the blankets over the top of her tell-tale expression when something made her stop to look again. There was something missing from her hand. Her grandmother's ornate silver ring, she realised with a start.

She had most definitely had it during her class back at home. How had she not noticed it was missing before?

Lucy tried to calm her nerves. That ring had been one of the few things her grandmother had given her before her death seven years ago. She had been wearing it stubbornly, knowing full well that it was an ill-fitted accident waiting to happen.

She cursed her stupidity. She would probably never see it again.

"What's the matter?" Sirius asked, noticing that something was wrong. "Is it bed bugs? I've heard from Pete that they can be nightmare."

His eyes shifted downwards as though trying to see through the blankets just where the bed bug was ailing her.

"I've lost my Grandmother's ring," she answered, having to force her voice out.

"Oh." He seemed unsure what to say.

"It was one of the last things she gave to me," she continued, more to herself. "I can't understand where it's gone, I remember twisting it on my finger in my last lesson back at home. Right before I was brought here," she added.

Sirius studied her intently.

"Did your Grandmother ever mention anything strange about the ring?" he asked suddenly.

She frowned at his odd question. "No," she answered reflexively.

But Sirius still wouldn't take his eyes off her. They were glazed, as if he wasn't really seeing her, too lost in his own thoughts.

"What if it was your ring?" he said finally.

She gave him an uncertain look.

His eyes refocused on her

"Dumbledore said the Timekeeper made a connection with something from your time to bring you here. What if it was your ring?" he said again.

His voice was barely audible, but the depth of it resonated through her body, sending trickling heat through her veins.

"She used to say it had magical powers," Lucy whispered in response, unable to fathom that her Grandma could have literally meant it. She had always thought it was just something one would say to a child, to make a trinket seem more enticing.

"I'll take you to see Dumbledore in the morning," Sirius stated decisively. He lowered himself into his chair, readying himself for sleep. "I'll wake you before people start coming down for breakfast," he promised.

Lucy watched him close his eyes, his body winding down.

"There's something I need to tell you," she said. "About my world."

It was time she told him the truth.

He seemed to pause, waiting for her to continue.

"There are things I need to warn you about, things that will happen in your future," she clarified, her throat dry.

She tried to work out how she could tell him that his life was straight from the pages of a fictional book, and that one day in the not too distance future, Peter would betray them all to a rising Dark Lord.

James and Lily would be killed. Sirius would spend the following twelve years alone in Azkaban. He would never truly be a free man again.

Her words choked her as she tried to get them out.

Sirius's quiet shallow breathing brought her back to the room. He was already asleep.

Her chest fell, both in relief and disappointment.

"Night, Sirius," she murmured, looking over at his oblivious, peaceful form.


	7. Accio Ring

**Chapter 7**

 **Accio Ring.**

As promised, Sirius woke Lucy just a little after daybreak the next morning. They padded their way back up the boys' staircase to wash and get ready to see Dumbledore.

When they entered the bedroom, a blond boy's face greeted them. He seemed surprised and then amused in quick succession.

"Bringing a girl into the boys' dorm, are we?" he smirked at Sirius, casting an appreciative eye at Lucy.

The other boys were all still asleep.

"You're supposed to be in the Hospital Wing," Sirius replied, his tone impatient.

Thanks to Simon's uncanny ability to heal, he had been forced to spend an extremely uncomfortable night in the armchair downstairs because Lucy no longer had a bed.

"What's it to you where I sleep?" Simon asked, before a look of indignant realisation swept over his face. "So _that's_ why my bed smells like a girl!"

Lucy pulled a disgusted face.

"If you're going to the trouble of sneaking her up here, the least you could do is have her in your own bed," he scowled.

"It's not that simple," Sirius replied.

Simon openly looked her up and down again. "Why, what's wrong with her?" he asked with a shrug.

She went to open her mouth, but Sirius cut her off. "Go ahead to the bathroom," he told her, "We'll leave when you get out."

"You can have my bed tonight if you like," Simon called to her as she went. "It'll be a squeeze with us both in there, but I don't mind if you don't."

Lucy's nostrils flared, slamming the door to cut him off and holding back the urge to flip him a choice hand gesture.

She could hear Simon's laughter echoing through the cracks in the bathroom door and tried to calm herself, focusing on getting ready. She was going to see Dumbledore to get answers.

She changed out of Sirius's borrowed t-shirt hurriedly. As she picked up her own top, she heard something clatter to the hard floor. Her heart skipped a beat. It was the wand that had fallen from the Sorting Hat the night before.

She had forgotten all about it. She gave it a quick flourish, immediately feeling ridiculous.

Stashing it in a loop in her trousers, she made her way out of the door. She would ask Dumbledore about it when she saw him.

To her great relief, Simon was already gone by the time she got out. Whether Sirius had purposefully got rid of him she did not know, but she held on to the idea that he had. The other boys were both amazingly still asleep.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Are you sure you're alright to miss classes to go with me?" she questioned.

"Someone has to take you," he replied easily.

"What about Lily, isn't she supposed to be the one looking after me?"

"Lily's not here."

.o.

He led the way across the Grand Staircase. Hardly any students were around now. Without warning, he placed a halting hand behind him, stopping Lucy in her tracks.

Before she could ask what the matter was, he pointed at the floor. It was the trick stair that had caught her unawares the other night. If it hadn't been for Tom she would have been trapped there all evening. She gave it a wide birth as they continued their journey.

After a while, the familiar gargoyle came in to view and Sirius spoke the password to Dumbledore's office.

"How did you know-?"

"Dumbledore gave the password to all of us the other night, in case of emergency," he replied.

An emergency caused by her, she realised.

The gargoyle obediently slid away and they allowed the moving staircase to take them upwards.

When they stepped through the open Office door, they were greeted by various gold and silver trinkets whirring gently around the room.

Portraits of previous Headmasters shuffled sleepily on the walls, as if unaware of their presence.

Dumbledore himself was nowhere to be seen.

Sirius glanced back at her, "I guess we'll just have to wait."

Lucy took a seat on one of the soft armchairs, feeling something stiff jab into her side.

"Ouch," she gasped.

Sirius looked over at her questioningly.

She grasped for the offending item, her hand clasping around the wand

His eyebrows shot up. "Where did you get that?"

"It fell out of the Sorting Hat the other night," she shrugged. "I don't know where it came from or whose it is."

Just then, the door to Dumbledore's office opened.

"Miss Hamilton, Mr Black," Professor Dumbledore greeted politely. His eyes flickered to the wand Lucy was still holding.

"Ah," he said, a small smile appearing on his face, "I'm sure you were quite surprised to be gifted that by our beloved Sorting Hat."

"Gifted?" Sirius asked, clearly confused.

Dumbledore appraised him.

"You haven't told Mr Black about your new acquisition?" he asked inquisitively.

"I don't understand," she replied, looking down at the wand as if it was a snake. "This is _mine_?"

"The Sorting Hat doesn't make mistakes," Dumbledore said.

Sirius frowned deeply. "I thought you were Muggle born?" he asked her.

"I am," she said, suddenly feeling defensive. Dumbledore was making her seem like a fraud.

"Since when has being Muggle-born affected a person's magical abilities?" the Professor enquired.

"Is this some kind of joke?" she demanded, feeling like if it was, it was on her.

"I doubt he would joke about something like this," Sirius spoke quietly, but his face betrayed his doubts.

Dumbledore extended a patient, long fingered hand towards the wand. She passed it to him without hesitation, grateful to give it away. He tested it between his fingers, flexing it slightly and examining it from above his fine half-moon spectacles.

"Hmm," he said thoughtfully, "A slightly yielding flexibility. Short stature. Very telling."

He held it out for her to take back, which she did reluctantly.

"A maple wood with Phoenix feather core is a nifty little wand, it should treat you well." His voice was calm and reassuring, but she could not take comfort from it.

"Does this mean she's a witch or something?" Sirius asked the question that Lucy had not felt able to. He seemed as doubtful as she was.

Dumbledore inclined his head non-committedly.

"The Sorting Hat seemed to believe that Miss Hamilton would find a use for the wand," he replied cryptically. "We can only trust blindly in its ancient judgement."

Sirius seemed tempted to push the Headmaster to give a straight answer.

"The wand is yours now," Dumbledore told Lucy. "Yours to use, or not, as you so wish." His words had a sense of finality.

"Now," he continued more airily, "was there more you wished to discuss?"

She glanced at the area on her finger where her Grandmother's ring usually sat.

"We think the Timekeeper connected with my Grandma's ring," she said firmly.

Dumbledore glided elegantly into a seat.

"Please, carry on," he pressed.

.o.

Sirius listened in silence as Lucy described her missing ring to Dumbledore; the way her Grandmother had always maintained it was 'magical', but that she herself had never placed much credence in it.

"So do you think the ring worked with the Timekeeper in some way to bring her here?" he asked Dumbledore when she had finished speaking.

Dumbledore's fingers were steepled in their usual resting position. He paused for an excruciating length of time before answering.

"I think there is every possibility that is the case," he said finally. "You say you have not seen your Grandmother's ring since your arrival at Hogwarts?"

Lucy shook her head.

He nodded. "We will need to cast a summoning charm. That ring has to be found. If you would be so kind as to hold your wand aloft."

She was taken aback when she realised he was looking at her.

" _Me_?"

"Indeed," the Headmaster nodded again.

She found his persistent serenity to be quite infuriating. He gestured again for her to raise her right hand.

Feeling ridiculous, she held the unfamiliar wand aloft. She didn't dare glance over at Sirius's face, for fear of feeling even more foolish than she already did.

"Mr Black, I trust you will be able to assist our guest in her performance of the correct gesticulations?"

Sirius stood up, his expression hard to read. If anything he seemed utterly bemused.

Dumbledore rose from his seat, sweeping his robes behind him purposefully. He swept an arm towards them, beckoning for Sirius to begin.

Lucy looked over to him, hoping to share a silent agreement about the futility of what they were about to do, but Sirius kept his expression guarded as he approached, walking around to stand at her back.

She tensed when she felt him close the distance between them.

Reaching his right hand out, he wrapped it around her wrist, his touch surprisingly firm. She gripped the wand until her knuckles turned white in a bid to prevent herself from shaking.

His breath grazed her hair as he said the summoning spell, guiding her wand arm expertly.

"Say it," he instructed.

She spoke the words, sounding unconvincing even to herself.

"You have to try harder than that," he said.

Backing away from her, he slowly released her arm to continue the rhythm that he had taught.

"Say it again." It sounded like a command, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Accio ring," she repeated, forcing confidence into her voice as she twisted the wand.

The wand pulsed in her hand.

She gasped and flipped around, "Did you see that?"

Sirius's reaction told her that he had seen it too.

When she turned back around, Dumbledore had retaken his seat. His expression halted her minor celebration. The sparkle had left his eyes.

"I'm afraid to say that the ring is not recoverable," he said with sudden finality.

She looked to Sirius, who seemed just as confused as she was. "What do you mean?" she cried. "Didn't you see? The wand shook. Something actually _happened._ "

"You misunderstand me," Dumbledore said. "This is not a reflection on either yourself or the wand. It is simply that the ring is not in this world for you to summon."

"How can you know that?" Sirius asked.

"Miss Hamilton cast the summoning spell," Dumbledore replied, "her wand clearly called out for the ring. The lack of ring in our midst can only lead to one explanation," he said. "It is simply not there to find."

A wave of scorching panic tumbled over Lucy, the pit of her stomach feeling as though it could pull her straight through the floor.

"I left it behind in my world," she realised.

"We can find a way around it?" Sirius demanded of Dumbledore.

Dumbledore did not answer.

Lucy's vision swam, feeling her consciousness flash.

Dumbledore peered down at the desk. "Worlds are not designed to cross for any extended length of time," he stated finally. "For this reason, I am certain that your presence at Hogwarts will not be indefinite."

She tried to breathe his hopeful words in, quelling her rising panic.

The line between dream and reality was becoming blurred, and she no longer trusted which was which.

"I'm am confident you will find yourself safely back at home, Miss Hamilton," Dumbledore continued, "Likely when you expect it least. In the meantime, however, I would beg of you not to trouble yourself with fruitless anxiety."

His clear blue eyes seemed to force a serenity into Lucy as strongly as if he had pointed a wand at her and performed a spell.

"If you need to speak with me again the password to my office will be 'Liquorice Stick'."

.o.

"Does this mean you can perform magic?" Sirius speculated as they made their way back to the Common Room.

"I have no idea anymore," Lucy replied.

"Dumbledore isn't exactly a font of clarity," he admitted.

They turned a corner, the Fat Lady coming into view.

"Blooming Plonker," he called the password.

"Colourful," Lucy remarked, vaguely wondering who on earth was responsible for it.

They stepped inside the Common Room. It was completely empty.

"Should we head back to lessons?" she asked.

Sirius turned around to her, walking backwards into the room. "How about we have some fun instead? Take your mind off things."

"What kind of fun?" she asked carefully.

A slow grin crept onto his face. "Perhaps now I could teach you a thing or two with my wand?"

Just like the last time, his expression was devilish, his words full of the possibility of innuendo.

The idea of him teaching her anything with his 'wand' made Lucy's pulse sing.

He seemed to be enjoying her reaction.

"Don't panic," he laughed, "I wouldn't dare. Lily would probably sniff us out for even thinking about it."

Just then, the portrait door swung open and Lily's furious green eyes flashed at them.

He barked a laugh. "See?" he gestured at Lily. "Impeccable sense of smell for a human."

Lily did not seem to understand what he was talking about, nor did she want to understand.

"I have been looking for you everywhere," she said to Lucy. She pinned Sirius with her frightening glare, "I don't want to have to talk to you about this again," she warned him.

Lucy narrowed her eyes, curious as to what she had already spoken to Sirius about. Was it to do with her?

Sirius seemed to find Lily's reaction funny. "Fine, I submit," he relented, holding his hands up in defense.

"We went to see Professor Dumbledore," Lucy told her, feeling that her attitude was unwarranted considering she didn't even know the full story.

Lily seemed to visibly control herself. "What about?" she asked immediately.

Lucy took a breath, preparing to tell her about the role that her now missing ring had apparently played in her arrival at Hogwarts.


	8. Quidditch

**Chapter 8**

 **Quidditch.**

A week had passed since their meeting with Dumbledore, and still the worlds had not 'untwisted' as he had foretold.

Lucy was starting to doubt the truth of his words; perhaps the Headmaster had only said it so that she would not panic about never being able to go home.

A loud cheering sound rang out around her and her focus was brought hurtling back to her surroundings. Both she and Lily were seated in the front row of the Hogwarts Quidditch stadium, which was prepped and ready to go for the upcoming match.

The seats behind them, to the left, and to the right were all packed to the rafters with excited students. She had never seen this many people bother to turn up for a Muggle high school sports game. The wind whistled through the stalls, sending the decorative House banners that were dotted around the still-empty pitch fluttering wildly.

"Welcome to the first Quidditch match of the school year!" A body-less voice exclaimed, echoing around the stadium. The crowd erupted yet again.

"Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff, it's gonna be a good 'un!" the young commentator shouted.

The was a bustle in the crowds as the Quidditch players finally started to file out of their opposite alcoves down below. Lucy's eyes were drawn to the red and gold team. From this distance it was hard to distinguish faces, but she could just about make out James's messy hair walking in the line, second from the front.

Her breath caught when she spotted another familiar face. A tall boy with a pale face and black hair that stood out at all angles. It was Tom Boswell – her Trick Stair anti-hero.

"I thought Simon would be playing now that he's back from the Hospital Wing?" she called to Lily over the crowd's cheers.

Lily shook her head. "Madam Pomfrey gave him strict orders to leave Quidditch for at least another month," she explained. "It was the only way she would let him leave the hospital early. Lucky for your friend there, though," she gestured down at Tom. "Now he gets to take Simon's place as Beater."

A disruption in the seats to their immediate left caught their attention.

The students in their row had risen to their feet and Remus Lupin was now edging his way past them, making an unsteady route towards them.

"Thanks," he said to the last boy to move for him to pass.

"Hi," he acknowledged them with a warm smile as he took the seat next to Lily. A thick red and gold scarf was wrapped loosely around his neck.

"Remus," she greeted, "I thought you were going to miss it!" She looked behind him. "Where're Sirius and Peter?"

"Here." A voice directly behind Lucy made her jump.

Sirius had climbed into the seat next to her, forcing the other students to all move along. Peter clambered clumsily in next to him. She became hyper aware of all the areas his body inadvertently met her own as he settled onto the bench.

He looked up and tossed the hair from his eyes, settling them on her.

"Excited?"

She took a breath, trying to force the air back into her lungs. He was close enough that his aftershave, mingled with his usual clean, soapy smell, wafted pleasantly into her face. "Very," she answered honestly.

.o.

"Have we missed much?" Remus asked as he scanned the field.

The players were huddling in their teams on the ground, going over any last minute tactics.

"No," Lily replied. "You're safe."

She peered over at him. "Why were you so late anyway?" she enquired.

"Turns out one of the nights my furry little problem coincides with is the Christmas ball," he replied into her ear. "We got distracted trying to figure out a way to get me out of the castle without running into anyone."

She looked thoughtful. "A diversion?"

He nodded grimly. "That's what Sirius said."

"It's starting," Peter called, tapping Sirius frantically.

"Go Prongs!" Sirius called, his hands cupped around his mouth. James took to the sky like a professional. Lucy felt the breath catch in her throat – he was _flying_.

Both teams navigated the pitch with ease. The yellow and black Hufflepuffs darted around like swift honeybees.

"The Snitch!" Someone called from the other side of the pitch.

"Surely they haven't found the Snitch already?" Lily exclaimed.

"No," Sirius replied. "Look." He gestured at the two Seekers hurtling towards one of the stands before seeming to lose their train of thought.

"Oooh, close one!" the commentator called. "It's far too early to end the match yet!"

The third-year Gryffindor Seeker looked sheepish as he flew away. He went to linger above the rest of the players, keeping a low profile like a watchful bird of prey.

"And that's ten points to Hufflepuff!" the commentator nearly screamed as a large ball spun through the left hoop. The crowd rose into tumultuous applause.

Sirius swore under his breath.

"Come on, Gryffindor!" he shouted.

Lucy found herself enthralled by the game in a way that no Muggle game had ever managed to hold her attention. Goal after goal was scored by both teams with breath-takingly precise aim.

Her attention was pulled momentarily away from the action of the main game when a flash of red and gold swept close to their group. The Gryffindor player had come in so fast and near to them that his broom's back wind had managed to ruffle their hair. He came to a stop just in front of them, hovering expertly in place as he watched the game unfurl as if biding his time.

"Here!" the player cried out suddenly, gesturing wildly to his teammate.

Lucy realised that the player was Tom at the same moment as she saw a round jet black ball thundering its way towards them. He threw his arm back and swung violently, his bat coming into contact with the Bludgeon and knocking it away with a deafening ' _Crack_ '.

She watched as it hit an unsuspecting Hufflepuff in the shoulder and threw them spectacularly off course.

"What a be-rilliant offensive from substitute Beater, Thomas Boswell there!" the commentator cried out.

Tom bobbed proudly on his broom in front of them.

The Gryffindor player that the assaulted Hufflepuff had been tailing was now free to raise the Quaffle in her hand and line it up with the middle hoop. Taking expert aim, she took her shot at the goal.

The crowd exploded into cheers.

"Can you believe it!" the commentator called. "Molly Chambers has scored an unbelievable goal for Gryffindor!"

Tom's arm thumped the air triumphantly. He swivelled on his broom to take in the cheering crowd and as he did his eyes clashed with Lucy's. A broad grin formed on his face.

"Spacegirl!" he called over the noise of the crowd. Lucy grinned back uncertainly.

Noticing the play continuing behind him he was gone in a flash.

"How do you know him?"

Sirius's voice rumbled through her body. She turned and found his face closer than she realised.

"He saved me from the Trick Stair when I first got here," she stated truthfully.

"Seems to have a thing for you," he observed.

"Think that's just the way he is."

Sirius's expression looked dryly amused. "If you say so, _Spacegirl_."

She felt a wash of second hand embarrassment for Tom, and for herself. She turned away from his handsome smirking face back to the game. More points had been scored since she'd last looked.

"WE WON!" Peter's excited scream rang through the air. Sirius was pushed forward as Peter's hand clapped onto his shoulder and shook him furiously. "SIRIUS, WE WON!"

Lucy blinked as he was snatched away. Sure enough the Snitch had been caught and Gryffindor had managed to pull it back to a win by 160 points.

Sirius recovered quickly, pushing Peter's chubby hands off and getting to his feet with the rest of the spectators.

Lucy forced a smile. Gryffindor had won the match.

.o.

Celebrations were in full flow that night. James had managed to get his hands on a banned drink that had started to circulate in the back alleys from across the Atlantic.

"Tickle Liquor?" Lily asked as Peter passed her a bottle. "Sounds pleasant."

He had forgotten to mention that it was extremely potent.

Almost immediately she looked as though she'd swallowed a frog. Her body convulsed, as though she was trying to keep it in. Before long, her mouth had been forced open with the pressure and a tirade of giggles burst out.

Tears ran from her slightly bulging eyes, "What- haha- is - hehehe –this?" she gasped.

The first wave of manic laughter seemed to pass after being let out, the odd titter still threatening to erupt.

"I'll have what she's having!" someone called.

"'Have what she's having!'" Lily repeated, finding it suddenly hilarious. "Oh Merlin," she wheezed, staring at the bottle, "that wasn't even funny..."

The realisation that she was laughing for no reason seemed to set her off again.

James offered Lucy a bottle and she took the smallest sip she could muster, testing it out. She felt the bubble of laughter immediately rise to her throat before it rushed out in a short loud "ha!"

He grinned. "This stuff is brilliant."

Soon the Common Room was filled with slightly hysterical laughter.

The original Beater, Simon Halstow, made his way over to them, looking around at the giggling Gryffindors. James offered him a bottle.

Simon took a step back. "My cousin had to be taken to hospital after downing a pint of Tickle Liquor in one go. He literally couldn't breathe for laughter."

"Why would he down it in one go?" Remus asked. Like Simon, he had steered well clear of the stuff.

"He was playing Truth or Challenge," Simon shrugged. "He chose Challenge. Had to do it."

"What's Truth or Challenge?" Peter asked. The redness of his face betrayed his newfound partialness to the drink.

"A Muggle primary school game," Lily answered, her face almost as red as Peter's from withheld chortles.

"Want to play?" Simon asked, a grin forming on his face.

James shrugged, "Why not?"

Sirius looked distinctly unimpressed. "A primary school game?"

Simon looked at him slyly, "If you're worried about what we'll make you do, then-"

Sirius's eyes flashed. "I never said that I wouldn't play."

A wide grin spread across Simon's face.

"I might opt out," Remus said, worried that his furry little secret might come up by accident.

"Don't worry, Remus, it'll be fun," James reassured him.

"In that case Remus has just volunteered to go first," Simon smirked. He led them over to a group of free seats.

"We'll move counter clockwise," he instructed once they had all sat down. He looked over at Remus, "Truth or Challenge?"

Remus sighed tiredly. "Challenge."

Simon grinned evilly. "I challenge you to kiss Lily."

An immediate hush swept over the group. Everyone knew that, as James's girlfriend, Lily was off limits.

Lily let out a loud giggle and placed a hand quickly over her disobedient mouth. She put the bottle of Tickle Liquor firmly on the floor, giving it an accusing glare.

"If that's how it's going to go, I'm not sure _I_ want to play," James said.

"Too late," Simon replied simply. "Besides, it's only Remus. If you don't see him as a threat then I can't see the harm in it, can you?"

James fumed silently at him.

Lily looked over at Remus's worried face. "It's fine," she said, "he never specified where we had to kiss, a peck on the cheek will do."

Simon looked foiled. "Wha-? No-," he looked at them impatiently, "I'll remember that next time," he warned.

Remus leaned over to brush his lips across Lily's ready cheek, his face immediately tingeing with pink.

Lily smiled, placing a comforting hand on Remus's knee. Even at so little contact James looked ready to spit fire.

"Next!" he said loudly, interrupting them.

The groups focus moved on towards Lucy, who was next in the circle, but she had already decided that she would not choose truth; like Remus, she couldn't risk any awkward questions.

"Moony, ask her the question," James instructed, still disproportionately sore over his friend's minimal contact with his girlfriend.

"Truth or Challenge?" Remus asked her apologetically.

"Challenge," she answered.

Remus paused, he hadn't thought this far ahead.

She watched as Sirius leaned over to mutter something in his ear. Remus's eyes widened. "Er, _no_. I'm definitely not asking her to do that."

Sirius grinned, but sat back down. Lucy looked across at him suspiciously, but he only smirked at her in return.

Remus seemed to search the air for inspiration, reaching into his pocket to take a comforting chunk of chocolate. "I challenge you to…" he thought about it for a second, "...to do ten star jumps." With that, he popped the chocolate into his mouth, satisfied that his role was over.

"Wow," Sirius said, looking at his friend. "And you call yourself a Marauder?"

"What?" Remus asked incredulously, his mouth full of chocolate.

"Terribly unoriginal challenge, Moony," James stated. "Be ashamed of yourself."

But Remus did not look ashamed in the slightest.

Lucy left her comfortable seat to do the ten star jumps, feeling the movement shake the unfulfilled laughter from the Tickle Liquor around her body. She returned to her seat with a firmly closed mouth, knowing that she had likely got off lightly and silently thanking Remus's unimaginativeness.

"Simon's turn," Sirius smirked dangerously, "and this time I'll do the asking."

"Truth," Simon said immediately. He knew better than to risk choosing Challenge with Sirius. He'd have him prancing naked around the Common Room faster than he could say one-eyed monster.

Sirius looked disappointed. "Coward."

Simon shrugged.

"Fine," Sirius said, an evil smile forming on his face. "I want you to tell everyone the real reason that you fell off your broom at Quidditch practice and broke your arm."

The group waited silently for Simon to tell his Truth.

"Oh, you should also probably know that I will hex the snot out of you if you lie, which is ironic really, when you think about it," Sirius added with a knowing smirk.

"I fell off my broom because I was hit with a Bludger," Simon told them through gritted teeth.

"Because?" Sirius pushed.

"Because I was too busy picking my nose," Simon admitted in a quieter voice.

James was the first to react, bursting into unchecked raucous laughter. The rest of the group tittered. But Sirius wasn't finished.

"And?" he pressed.

Simon looked like he wanted to throttle him, sending invisible daggers with his eyes. "And eating it," he said angrily. "Happy?"

Sirius laughed and clapped him hard on the back. "Ecstatic," he said. "The truth will set you free, my friend."

"That's disgusting," Lily grimaced, edging away from the boogie-picking blond haired boy.

"Your turn," Simon told Sirius sorely.

Sirius settled back unfazed. "Hit me."

"Truth or Challenge?"

"Hey, why does Simon get to ask again?" James demanded.

"Fine, Pete can do it," Sirius gestured. "And I choose Challenge, naturally."

Peter thought on it. "I dare you to run to the library and back again."

Simon frowned. "And what exactly will that achieve?"

"If that's his Challenge, who am I to argue?" Sirius commented.

"Oho no, no way are you getting it that easy," Simon replied. "Peter has just forfeited his chance to be challenger. Under those circumstances, jurisdiction falls to me."

Sirius shifted impatiently. "Whatever you say," he said. "Can you manage it while we're still young?"

"You can kiss the Muggle," Simon said, gesturing at Lucy. "On the lips," he added this time, remembering Lily's get-out clause.

Taken off-guard, Lucy bit down a throb of unbidden laughter from the Tickle Liquor. On top of what Simon had said, she was drawn to the fact that he somehow knew she was a Muggle.

She noticed that Peter looked suddenly uncomfortable - he had obviously ratted her out to his roommate.

Lily raised her eyebrows at Simon's dare. "And what's wrong with kissing a Muggle?" she demanded, her intermittent reflexive chuckles somewhat taking the seriousness out of her words.

Simon tried to backtrack. "Nothing. I just meant-"

"Yeah?" James eyed him up at her side, waiting for an answer.

"Nothing," he finished lamely.

Sirius looked over at him in disgust, "After all that, you could've at least picked a half decent challenge." His focus moved over to Lucy and he lifted himself up, leaning down towards her.

She felt her breathing stop as his face neared her own. Resting a hand on the sliver of seat next to her thigh for support, he bent over her, glancing from her lips to her eyes. He paused, as if allowing her the chance to stop him.

She stayed completely still.

In an instant, Sirius had closed the gap between them and placed one quick kiss on her mouth.

Her eyes closed, enjoying the all too brief sensation of his smooth, soft lips against hers. She had to fight the urge to pull him back to finish the job properly.

When they were finished, James looked over at Simon, shaking his head disappointedly. "If you'd seen the posters he keeps on his walls… I _really_ don't think he's opposed to Muggle women."

"She's gone red!" Peter called out, interrupting them, his eyes darting around for approval.

Lucy felt her cheeks with her hand, irked by the fact that Peter was right. They _were_ warmer than usual.

Sirius surveyed her, as if to see for himself whether just one peck really had managed to instigate a blush in her.

"Maybe it's the heat from the fire?" Lily suggested helpfully.

"Nah, it's 'cause girls find Padfoot irresistible," James replied with an easy grin.

"Merlin knows why," Simon interjected sourly.

Sirius smirked at him. "What can I say?"

He glanced back at Lucy, but she was still avoiding his gaze with an unnatural tenacity.

The very corner of his mouth tugged upwards.


	9. Percival Pratt

**Chapter 9**

 **Percival Pratt.**

Lucy had been sleeping in the Head Girl's Dormitory with Lily since the night of Simon's reappearance from the Hospital Wing.

The Head Girl's sleeping quarters was the plushest room that she had ever laid eyes on. It would have put a five star hotel to shame. The soft double bed sat underneath a cascade of gauzy fabric, which fell gracefully from a hoop near the ceiling.

She trod bare-footed across the large rug and pulled the fine curtain aside to climb into bed. She watched as Lily extinguished the light with her wand and settled herself into the sheets.

"Do you miss home?" Lily asked after a while. "Sorry if you don't want to talk about it. It's just, well, what you said about your Grandma's ring got me thinking how strange it must be to be here."

"I really miss my best friend," Lucy admitted quietly. "Sometimes I'll go to tell her about something that's happened and realise she's not there."

"It's sad that you never got to say bye," Lily said softly. "What was her name?"

"Michelle. Shell."

"I don't understand why you can't just go home," Lily wondered, turning onto her back and looking up at the fabric surrounding them. "We have Muggles in our world as well. Wouldn't your home be somewhere amongst them?"

Lucy paused, unsure whether telling her the truth would have any consequences. "Where I come from, the year is 2005," she answered finally.

Lily took a sharp intake of breath. "That's impossible," she shook her head, "So you wouldn't have even been born yet?"

Lucy had to bite down on her tongue; it wasn't even the split between the time zones that was the real problem. The real problem was that Hogwarts was straight from the pages of a fictional book.

"Everything about this is impossible," she stated darkly, more to herself than the bemused red head led next to her.

.o.

James sat in the Transfiguration classroom the next morning, his brow furrowed in concentration as he sketched out a detailed diagram.

The boys had arrived in the empty class fifteen minutes early with the sole aim of discussing December's full moon, and how they were going to avoid the festivities of the Yule Ball. He was concerned that with so many people around, their usual cover underneath his invisibility cloak might be blown. If someone accidently bumped into them, for instance, it would not end well when they were met with a menagerie of animals and a _werewolf._

He flipped the drawing around to show Remus, Sirius and Peter. It was a sketch of the Hogwarts grounds with asterisks to highlight key areas that they should travel through to avoid being seen.

"This would be a hell of a lot easier if Filch hadn't stolen the Marauders' Map," Sirius grumbled. "At least then we'd know if anyone was close to running into us."

"Well we have just over a month to finalise the details yet."

"It would be good to sort it now though."

James cut off their discussion by making a sudden dash to fold the plans and shove the parchment back into his trouser pocket.

Professor McGonagall had swept through the door towards her desk. She raised an eyebrow and cast a beady eye on the four boys smiling innocently back at her.

Pulling the tartan deerstalker from her head, she examined her pocket watch.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company _ten minutes_ before the start of class?" she asked them waspishly.

Sirius flashed a charming smile. "Peter insisted, Professor," he responded easily, "turns out he just couldn't keep away from your animal magnetism."

Peter's eyes darted to his friend in horror.

McGonagall's puckered lips twisted, and for a second Sirius felt sure she was going to smile.

"Five points from Gryffindor," she called instead.

The boys uttered muted protests.

"Any more nonsense and I'll double it," she warned, extricating books from her bag.

"That'll teach us for coming to class early," James muttered to Sirius under his breath.

A musical laugh rang out in the corridor outside and Lily Evans entered the classroom with Lucy in tow as always, as per Dumbledore's instructions. They were still smiling as they made their way to the back of the class.

"Miss Hamilton," McGonagall called.

Lucy jumped, she had not realised that anyone else was in the classroom.

"I trust you have brought your wand to class today?" McGonagall snipped.

She had not met the Professor before - the last Transfiguration lesson spent in Dumbledore's office. Her upright posture and no nonsense expression cut an imposing figure.

"Yes, Professor," she found herself answering immediately.

Lily reeled around at her. "Wand?" she repeated, perplexed.

"Is there a problem, Miss Evans?" McGonagall demanded.

James flinched on Lily's behalf.

She shook her head quickly. "No, sorry Professor. I just wasn't aware that Lucy had been given a wand."

McGonagall raised her eyebrow. "Well now you know," she said tersely. "Please take your seats."

"I thought you were Muggle?" Lily hissed, once McGonagall had shifted her attention elsewhere.

"I am," Lucy hissed back. "It just fell out of the Sorting Hat during my ceremony. Dumbledore seemed to think that it would be useful to me in some way."

"Have you tried using it yet?"

"No. Well, not really. I tried a summoning charm, trying to find my ring. But it didn't work."

Lily stared back at her in surprise. "How did you not think to tell me this?"

.o.

Over the next five minutes, the rest of the class gradually filled out the classroom.

Lucy was disappointed to find that Mary Macdonald and her group of tittering friends had taken this N.E.W.T. as well. It seemed like every class Sirius had chosen, Mary had inexplicably chosen too. Mary and her friend had taken a seat on the row directly behind the Marauders, her eyes drifting towards the back of Sirius's head every so often.

"Take out your wands," McGonagall instructed, commencing the start of the lesson.

A hush swept over the class as they what they were told.

Lucy took the wand from the bag she had borrowed from Lily. The smooth wooden drumstick-like object still felt foreign in her hands. Lily stared openly at it, unable to believe her eyes.

"Turn to page 621 in your 'Guide to Advanced Transfiguration'" McGonagall said.

The Professor bent down under her desk and re-emerged with a square shaped box covered by a night-blue blanket. She swept it off dramatically to uncover a cage. Inside the cage sat a large, fat lizard.

"Today we will be practicing 'Iguana Transfiguration'."

A loud guffaw filled the classroom.

"Mr Potter," McGonagall stated firmly, "If you find this so highly amusing, please share with the class the five main complications of Iguana Transfiguration."

James looked annoyed with himself. He usually knew the answer to most of the questions that the teachers threw at him. Iguana Transfiguration seemed so obscure that he hadn't considered it worth even looking at.

McGonagall's lips pursed. She turned back to the class.

"Get into pairs," she commanded. "You will take it in turns to approach the desk and attempt your transfiguration of this creature into an everyday household object." As if to demonstrate, she waved her wand at the dozing reptile. In an instance it became a whistling black tea kettle. With another flick of her wand it had transformed back to its original state.

.o.

When it was their turn, Sirius and James approached the desk confidently.

Sirius flourished his wand. The iguana paused for a second before gambolling in mid-air, a highly decorative vase landing on the floor of the cage in its place. McGonagall looked impressed despite herself.

"And back again," she requested.

James flipped the vase on its head, transforming into an iguana once again.

As they were seated directly behind, it was Mary's turn to walk over to the desk next, partnered with a sharp featured brown haired girl. She waved her wand in the iguana's direction, concentration furrowing her brow, and the iguana obediently morphed into an antique clock. Mary looked extremely proud of herself, but something didn't seem quite right. The corner of the clock had started to turn a strange colour.

McGonagall looked at it grimly.

"Mary has identified to us one of the many complications of Iguana Transfiguration," she stated. "Colour change."

"Isn't it chameleons that change colour?" Mary's partner enquired, glancing furtively at the 'clock'.

"An iguana's colour changes as it ages, or if it is due to mate," McGonagall corrected her. "Something about transfiguration can prompt this change," she added, glaring at the oblivious iguana.

"So it makes them horny?" Sirius realised with a laugh.

McGonagall's mouth twisted but she did not say no.

"Mary's turned her iguana on!" a dark haired boy called to the class.

Sure enough the antique iguana clock had started to turn a fierce red. The colour flickered, changing to pink, then blue, then purple. It started flashing like a disco ball at the front of the room, much to Mary's dismay.

A barked laugh came from the side of the room but was cut off abruptly. Lucy looked over just in time to see Remus's elbow jab Sirius in the ribs to shut him up.

"'bout the only thing she can turn on," James muttered in an undertone, sharing a look of amusement with Sirius.

"That's quite enough of that," McGonagall told the iguana impatiently, changing the flashing clock back to a now startled lizard.

The rest of the class made their way up in their pairs to try their hand. Most of them were successful, with only a few of their conjured inanimate objects having a tell-tale tail or strange leathery skin.

Lily and Lucy were the last to go.

"Just Lily," McGonagall said, as Lucy started to reluctantly get up. "Miss Hamilton, if you could wait after class I would like to see you one to one." Her face betrayed nothing.

The same dark haired boy that had mocked Mary now let out a loud, "ooooh!"

"Don't be jealous, Dave," Sirius called easily, "McGonagall still loves you too."

The class let out suppressed giggles.

"And that's detention!" McGonagall snapped at him, her temper fraying. "You can join Miss Hamilton in seeing me after class."

Sirius did not give a reaction.

.o.

"I'll meet you in third period at Charms," Lily assured her as she left Lucy to face McGonagall.

Sirius stayed where he was as his friends picked up their bags and left.

It was just the three of them now.

"Mr Black, you will stay seated until I have finished speaking with Miss Hamilton," McGonagall said. She looked expectantly to Lucy, who pushed her wand into her bag and got up to make her way quickly over to McGonagall's desk.

"I would keep that out, if I were you," McGonagall stated in a clipped voice. "On the Headmaster's suggestion, you will spend the next hour practising your wand skills with me."

"Wand skills?" Lucy repeated.

"Please pull up a seat while I deal with Mr Black."

Sirius's stool scraped back from his desk and he made his way impassively towards the Professor.

"You must learn to control yourself in lessons," her voice was exasperated when he reached her side. "Your inexplicable talent will only carry you so far. This is your final year, _please_ start taking it more seriously."

If Lucy didn't know any better, it almost seemed as if his Head of House had a soft spot for him.

Sirius held her gaze. "Yes, Professor."

McGonagall pursed her lips. "Very well," she said reluctantly. "I don't want to hear another peep from any of the staff about you for the rest of this term." She gave a withering sigh and turned away from him, "If I have to put up with Horace Slughorn telling me another of my students has misbehaved, I shall do something he and I will both regret."

Sirius went to walk away, but paused on the way out, looking back as an afterthought. "I could always help Hamilton practise her skills, if you need an extra hand, Professor?"

Lucy's head shot around to look at him. She had to remind herself to close her slackened jaw.

McGonagall eyed him suspiciously.

"I helped her with a summoning charm in the Headmaster's office," he added as if in explanation. "And I have a free period."

"As someone who is not famed for his magnanimous personality, what exactly will you be getting out of this?" McGonagall asked shrewdly.

"The chance to give something back," he replied with a charming smile. "You're obviously having a positive effect on me, Professor."

"Well it's only taken seven years," she replied tersely. She arched an eyebrow and looked back at Lucy. "Though I'm loathe to admit, Sirius _is_ an extremely talented student," she said. "Do you have any objections to this unexpected offer of help?"

Lucy forced her mouth to form the word, "No."

McGonagall sighed. "Very well."

She beckoned Sirius. "Well do come on," she called, "we haven't got all day."

.o.

"Sirius, if you could demonstrate the simple transfiguration of this matchstick into a needle," McGonagall gestured at the object laid ready on the desk.

He performed it with ease and back again.

"And now you will copy his exact words and wand placement," she told Lucy.

She did as she was told, feeling incredibly foolish for even attempting it. Her repetition of his words was lacklustre.

McGonagall tutted. "Put some effort into it, girl," she said fiercely. "It's not going to change itself!"

She nodded impatiently to Lucy's wand arm. "Correct that limp noodle," she ordered Sirius brusquely. She focused a judgemental eye on Lucy, "This will never work if I have to spoon feed you the very basics."

Sirius stepped forwards. This time instead of placing his fingers around her wrist to guide her, he clasped his right hand over the top of hers. It swallowed it up. Snapping his hand towards the matchstick in a wide arc, he forced her along with him. She felt a surge of power course through his palm into her. Her wand refused his direction on principle, but she was not sure how it had resisted him.

Speaking the incantation herself, she allowed him to continue guiding her hand with quick, expert precision. Again nothing happened.

Repositioning herself she tried to concentrate all of her energy into the spell. She moved her hand from Sirius's grip, knowing that she could not give her full concentration to anything while he continued to touch her.

He dutifully took a step backwards, and all eyes were on the matchstick as she tried again. With a shake it turned bright shiny silver. It was a silver matchstick.

Lucy glanced around, making sure that nobody had done it for her. Sirius stared down at the transformed matchstick in surprise. He walked forward and picked it up between his thumb and forefinger, giving it a solitary flick. It made a brief ringing sound at the impact.

McGonagall pursed her lips. "Well it's no needle, but it is an improvement, I suppose."

She took the silver matchstick and passed it to Lucy. "On Thursday we will cover levitation. In the meantime, I would like you to practice today's spell until you have a needle fit for sewing."

"Yes, Professor," she replied, still in awe at what she had managed to do. It may have been rudimentary to the rest of the seventh years, but she had just performed _magic_. It didn't matter how small it was.

She caught Sirius's eye. There was something different in the way that he looked at her.

.o.

"Come this way," he said as they left the classroom. He gestured in the opposite direction to the Common Room.

"Where are we going?" Lucy asked.

He did not answer, instead speeding up into a brisk walk along the Grand Staircase. They came to a sudden halt in front of the portrait of a man dressed in seventeenth century finery.

"Meet Percival Pratt," he introduced her.

"Hello?" she greeted the haughty portrait uncertainly.

"Do you have the magic words?" the portrait asked in a pompous voice.

"This Password Is Absurd," Sirius spoke with confidence. He had clearly done this before.

Looking a little put out, the portrait reluctantly swung open to reveal a hidden passageway.

"I have to be back in forty minutes for my Charms lesson," Lucy stated baldly, looking dumbstruck down the revealed pathway. "Lily will be waiting for me."

"You will be," Sirius assured. "Lily won't have to get her cloak in a twist again. This is a short cut."

"A short cut to what?"

He gestured to the uncovered passageway. "You'll just have to find out, won't you?"

She took a subtle breath, acutely aware that she was about to enter a passageway alone with Sirius Black. As she took a hesistant step inside, he climbed in quickly after her, leaving the portrait to swing shut behind them with a sense of finality.

There was no going back now.

Placing a light hand on her shoulder, he encouraged her forwards. The tunnel was just big enough for them to walk single file. Lucy held both her arms out, pressing her palms along the cold walls for support. She led the way slowly in the dim light.

Sirius's breath came out in reassuringly steady intervals at the back of her head, the sound of their footsteps echoeing out around the dark tunnel. A small door appeared seemingly from nowhere ahead of them, around ten feet away.

"We're nearly there," he stated, spotting it.

She knew better than to ask again where they were going, he seemed to be revelling in the mystery.

When they reached the doorway he leaned past her and gave it a hard shove. She stepped through it, immediately feeling the floor give way. Toppling forward with a sharp intake of air, she teetered over the edge of a dark round hole in the ground. Firm hands grabbed at her with lightning quick reflexes, pulling her back.

"Forgot to say mind the step," Sirius said, like the fact that there was a blood-curdling drop in front of them had slipped his mind.

She steadied herself. "How deep is that?" she panted, almost positive that the hole hadn't been there a second ago.

"Deep enough," he answered. "There should be a ladder."

He held a hand out for her as she turned around. She felt a stirring in her body as she took it. As soon as she was stable on the first rung of the ladder he released her. His feet followed her down the oversized rabbit warren.

At the bottom, she had never been so grateful to take a step onto solid ground. She looked around; they were in an underground boat house. It was dimly lit by a single fire lamp held in the centre of the ceiling.

Sirius walked purposefully around the path surrounding the water, over to the back wall. He examined the area with his hands as if trying to feel for something invisible.

"Aha," he pulled at thin air.

As he brought his arms back, a beautiful black motorcycle appeared out of nowhere.

"Woah," Lucy murmured.

"Good reaction," a small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Meet Bertha." His expression was reminiscent of a proud father.

"Bertha?"

"Isn't she beautiful?" He slid a tender hand along the motorcycle's side fairing.

"How did you even get this here?"

His face seemed somewhat amused. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

She stepped forwards, appraising the bike. It looked extremely well cared for.

"It's not very often I get to come down here and see her," he admitted. "The boys think people spotting me down here will arouse suspicion."

"Why are you showing me this?" she wondered aloud.

His head shifted to the side, studying her. "I figured I could probably trust you not to tell anyone," he said, "considering your circumstances." A small crooked smile had appeared on his face, "Besides, it gives me an excuse to see _her_ again," he nodded at Bertha.

He patted the seat, gesturing for her to climb on. There was a pause before she reached out to put her hands uncertainly on the top, steadying her weight as she lifted a leg over its shiny body.

It felt huge underneath her, like a wild animal with its own consciousness. She was suddenly grateful that she would never have to be in the driver's seat for real. She allowed her hands to slide slowly up and over until they reached the handlebars; imagining that she could feel the vibrations of power lurking beneath the smooth shell, waiting to be ignited.

When she turned back around, Sirius was stood very still, watching her. There was something about the darkness in his eyes that sent a jolt of excitement coursing through her body.

He took a step forwards and in one fluid motion pulled himself over the back of the motorcycle seat behind her. Her pulse raced when he leant forwards to grasp the handlebars, his long arms reaching around her sides, twisting his hands around the grips.

She felt him brush the side of her hair as he looked over her shoulder, examining the dials on the dashboard.

"I miss riding her so much," he murmured. "When you're in sky with her... a broom can't touch it."

The warmth of him pressed along her back. She wondered if he knew the effect he was having on her.

"We should take her out," his voice whispered dangerously.

Lucy froze. Riding with _Sirius Black_ on his motorcycle was the kind of thing that she had been daydreaming about for as long as she could remember, but something stopped her from saying yes.

"I have to get back to Charms," she said, her voice guarded.

His adrenaline taut body seemed to collapse immediately. He hoisted himself up and off the bike, his previously eager warmth hardening once again. He waited while Lucy pulled herself off.

"Let's go," he said, motioning to the doorway.

They didn't speak again for the entire walk back to the castle. She made it to her Charms class with five minutes to spare.

"Did everything go okay with McGonagall?" Lily asked as she made her way over to her. She had waited outside of the classroom door for her to arrive.

"Yeah," Lucy replied. She was still reeling from the Boat House, replaying the scene in her head. Sirius had never revealed himself to her in that way before; earnest and fervent. It felt like he had accidently released a brief glimpse of the real him.

Lily's eyebrows knitted together. "Are you alright?" she asked, "You seem flushed."

"McGonagall wants me start private lessons with her to practise with the wand," Lucy answered honestly, purposefully leaving out what had happened next.

"Wow, she must really believe you have something then." Lily seemed impressed.

Lucy glanced at her with a wry expression. "Dumbledore's making her, I think."

.o.

"Hey," James greeted Lily and Lucy later that evening at dinner.

The Marauders had managed to make it down before them.

As the girls approached, Sirius glanced up from his plate briefly, but did not say anything.

Putting herself at a safe distance away from the potential of Lily and James's public displays of affection, Lucy chose the opposite side of the table next to Remus.

Peter was sat on his other side. She hadn't really spoken to the smaller boy since she'd got there, he always seemed to stop talking while she was around; whether it was because he was shy or just didn't like her she wasn't sure. On her part, she found it impossible to separate who he currently was and what she knew he would one day turn into.

"Show them what you can do," Lily pressed as they settled in, looking expectantly across the table at her. She dropped the matchstick that they had been practising on into the middle of the table.

All four boys paused their eating to look on, including Sirius, though his expression remained stoic.

Putting her goblet down, Lucy took out the wand and gestured it towards the matchstick, speaking the incantation. Almost instantly, the matchstick flicked itself into a sharp silver needle.

Lily grinned proudly.

"Well done," Remus said good-naturedly.

"Spent the entire Charms lesson working on it," Lucy admitted.

Sirius reached out to pick up her needle, testing the tip with his thumb. It drew a tiny droplet of blood that he sucked away. Lucy watched him, studying the ways his lips parted around his flesh. Something in her peripheral made her look away; Remus was staring at her, a strange mixture of bemusement and awareness on his face.

Her eyes darted immediately to the table, pretending that she hadn't just been caught lusting after his friend. When she dared to look back up, his attention was unfortunately still on her.

"Sirius mentioned you had a go at summoning," he commented affably, a small knowing smile on his face.

Sirius looked up at his name.

"Yeah," she replied, trying to act casual. "It didn't work though."

Remus inclined his head, "It's a fourth year spell, don't feel too bad."

"Try summoning this from my hand," James called over to her, dropping in on their conversation. He held up a bread roll.

"Have a go," Lily encouraged her.

Lucy released a breath. Picking the wand back up, she concentrated all of willpower into snatching the food from James. "Accio roll."

The bread roll didn't so much as quiver. Even though she'd expected it, she was still disappointed.

Sirius, who had leaned forwards on the table to watch, sat back in his chair again and took a swig from his cup.

"Try again," James pushed her.

"Just leave it, Prongs," Remus said. "Like I said, it's a fourth year spell."

James tilted his head carelessly and took a huge bite of the roll. Without warning, their dinner plates disappeared and dessert appeared on the table in front of them. "Hey, I wasn't finished with that!" he cried, his mouth still full of bread.

Loud, forced laughter from further along the table made him looked over with a frown, thinking it was aimed at him. He saw Mary Macdonald and her friend Meg Hancock smirking viciously towards them.

"What's up your nose, Macdonald?" he demanded.

Mary feigned innocence. "Nothing, we just remembered something really funny. Well, pathetic really. Funny in a pathetic way."

He raised an eyebrow at them. "Was it your life?" he quipped.

Mary flickered her eyes at him.

"They were laughing about the Muggle," Peter said quietly, ladling cherry pie and custard into his mouth. He had been sat closest to them and had heard everything.

"What…about Lucy? Why?" Lily frowned.

Peter didn't even bother to look up. "They saw her try the summoning charm."

All eyes landed on Lucy. She tried to feign indifference at the fact that they had all seen Mary make a fool out of her.

"Macdonald's just sore because her first sexual awakening was with an iguana," Sirius remarked easily, glancing over to Mary and her friends.

"Aww," James laughed. "Don't forget to invite us to your wedding, Mary. Petey here could be your best man, couldn't you Pete?"

Pete looked at James then over at Mary, his mouth twisting into a yellow grin.

"Oh stuff off," Mary seethed.

Lily rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing for your birthday anyway?" Remus enquired, clearly trying to change the subject.

"It's the same day as the next Hogsmeade trip," Sirius said, still smirking at Mary's scowling face. Angering her had seemed to lift his mood slightly.

"The 3rd?" Lily asked, taking a bite of Victoria sponge.

"We could head to the pub," James suggested with a sly grin. "You'll be eighteen so it'll technically be legal now."

"Spoils the fun somewhat when it's legal, doesn't it?" Sirius observed.

"The rest of us can't order alcohol anyway," Lily reminded him. "Not 'til next year."

"When are you eighteen?" Remus looked to Lucy.

"April."

"Guess you'll be drinking all alone then, mate," James said, shooting Sirius a conspiratorial wink.

"I saw that," Lily stated.

James laughed, "Don't worry, Lily. I'll be too drunk on love to bother with alcohol."

Lily raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Hmm. I'm sure you will.


	10. Good Vibrations

**Chapter 10**

 **Good Vibrations.**

Since showing Lucy his motorcycle, Sirius had spent the following days keeping a noticeably low profile around her. She wasn't sure if he was still upset that she had turned down the offer of a ride, or if there was something more to his distance.

She had originally dared to believe that something had passed between them on that day, a brief spark of connection that had previously been glaringly one-sided on her part, but his behaviour from then on told her that even if he had the connection too it was now very much over.

Instead of that day spent alone at the Boat House bringing them closer together, there was now -for reasons frustratingly unknown to her- an escalating awkward tension whenever they met. It bothered her, perhaps more than it should have, to have a fictional character go out of his way to avoid her. If Hogwarts was all in her own imagination, then why was getting close to Sirius Black such an impossible feat?

.o.

After taking the school carriages to Hogsmeade, the Marauders arrived in The Three Broomsticks at just after half past twelve in the afternoon. They were parched, and at least half of them were very ready for some innocent flirtation with the young barmaid.

Spotting four of her favourite customers in their usual booth, the barmaid Rosemerta made her way over, smiling broadly.

"What can I get such handsome boys?" she asked with a familiar wink. She glanced down at Peter's slightly too-eager face, her smile faltering only briefly.

"A Firewhiskey for me, Rosy," Sirius said, baring his teeth in a charming grin.

Rosy gave him a look and he laughed at her reaction. "It's all above board," he assured her.

"It's young Sirius's 18th birthday," James explained with a grin and pat on his friend's back.

Her eyes lit up at the information.

"Ooh, finally legal eh?" she asked with an interested look in Sirius's direction; something that did not go unnoticed by Sirius. "In that case, the Firewhiskey is on me. Just this once, mind," she added with a smile, "next time you can treat _me_."

He grinned wolfishly, letting his gaze sweep deliberately down the bustle of her dress. "I'll look forward to it."

"That's enough of that," Rosy warned him with a tinkling laugh, though her pleased expression said just the opposite.

"I'll have a Firewhiskey as well thanks, Rosy," James said.

She laughed again. "I'll bet you will."

"It was worth a try," he relented.

"I'll get you a hot Butterbeer," she offered, "it'll warm your cockles just the same."

"Prongs has Lily for any cockle warming he needs," Sirius muttered under his breath. Either Rosemerta didn't hear him or she pretended not to, instead looking to Remus expectantly.

"And what can I get you, my love?" she asked him, her voice somehow softer as if she wanted to bring back cotton wool to wrap him up in as well as his order.

"I'll have an iced Pumpkin Juice, thanks," he replied with a polite smile.

"Same for me," Peter piped up as she made a note.

"Coming right up." With one last suggestive smirk in Sirius's direction, she shimmied away.

He gave a low whistle, "Merlin, that woman is something."

James had to shake away the reverie caused by Rosy's full bouncing hips, making Sirius chuckle. "Watch Lily doesn't catch you at that."

James swept a careless hand. "Lily knows how I feel about her. She's the whole package."

"Ahh," Sirius sighed, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. "Jamesy's got it bad."

James's face turned serious. "I think she might be the one."

Both Sirius and Remus looked simultaneously amused and unsurprised, but Peter's face fell slightly; he found it hard to fake a smile.

"When are they getting here?" he asked.

"Lily wanted to take Lucy on a bit of a tour first, I think," James replied, "considering she's never seen Hogsmeade before and all."

Rosemerta sashayed back to their table with four drinks.

"Enjoy," she sang as she placed them down. There was a bright red sparkler bobbing in Sirius's complimentary Firewhiskey.

.o.

As Lucy stepped across the threshold of Honeydukes, she was enveloped by a cloud of sugary aroma.

The air was so thick with different wafts that it was almost as if it could be sliced and eaten.

She looked around in awe at the shelves, stocked to bursting. There were hundreds of varieties of chocolates, miniature cakes, turkish delight and fudge. Boiled sweets, gummy sweets, sweets that bounced around as if they were alive.

All of the products that were mentioned in the books were there, and some that were not.

A nougat owl winked its wide eyes at her from a large display case, one after the other - the owl was good for delivering one message, which was enough really when one considered the fact that the recipient could then eat the tasty conveyer.

She was desperate to see a real life Chocolate Frog.

In her world a Muggle shop had sold a cheap imitation, but it wasn't quite the same when the frogs were made from static, cheap tasting chocolate and the cards merely showed blurred scenes from the films rather than actual moving figureheads of the Wizarding world.

She soon spotted them next to the sugar quills; they had a whole shelf to themselves.

As her Head of House, McGonagall had passed on a small bag of galleons to be used 'in emergencies only'. She was able to convince herself that the Professor might not notice the missing bit of change required to purchase a Chocolate Frog.

In contrast, Lily's basket was absolutely brimming; she had taken the opportunity to gather a few magical Christmas presents for her sister Petunia and the rest of her family. Things hadn't been the same between her and Tuney since Lily had first been accepted at Hogwarts, and she hoped that her sweet treats might sweeten her sourness towards her.

When they finally made their way out of the shop, Lucy spotted a pale boy with chin length black hair seemingly heading their way. He had a rather dark, serious face. The black haired boy reached Lily's side and began pleading with her. "Lily please, hear me out-"

Lily's face was uncharacteristically stern. "I have nothing to say to you Sev, I've told you before please don't talk to me anymore."

 _Snape,_ Lucy realised in shock.

"But Lily I-"

Lily shot him a cold stare and he immediately backed off in despair.

"You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine," she said vehemently, flicking her long hair behind her and storming away. Snape was left to stare after her looking grief stricken.

The two girls walked on awkwardly until they reached a small wooden bench in one of the alleys of Hogsmeade, and Lily finally broke the silence.

"His name is Severus," she stated abruptly. "We used to best friends, but - well that was a long time ago." She shook her head slightly. "I don't even recognise who he is anymore," she added sadly.

.o.

Pulling back the red velvet changing room curtain in Madam Mina's party wear shop, Lily emerged in a glistening blue dress.

"Well?" she asked uncertainly. "Good enough for the Christmas Ball?"

"You look beautiful," Lucy answered honestly.

Lily examined herself in the mirror. "Why is it always so hard to choose a colour that doesn't clash with my hair?" she murmured absentmindedly.

"The colour is lovely," Lucy reassured her again, trying to quell her fidgeting legs. "James is going to be blown away." After spending a full twenty minutes in the dress shop already, she was more than ready to move on.

"Right," Lily agreed, "Right, well I'll get this off and then you can have a go."

"What?"

"Well you can't exactly go to the ball in the second hand school robes you've been wearing. And McGonagall gave you all that money."

When she still didn't move, Lily continued, "Considering we're supposed to be together pretty much at all times, I would have thought that Dumbledore would expect you to be there." She re-entered the changing room to get her own clothes back on, sweeping the curtain closed to separate her from view.

"Besides," she called through it, "you might even cadge a dance out of Sirius!"

At these words Lucy balked. "What do you mean?" she demanded, staring hard at the large velvet screen still hiding Lily.

Lily popped her head around one edge to look at her, "It seemed like you might have a bit of a thing for him. Sorry if I'm wrong," she shrugged.

"Did Remus tell you that?" Lucy asked, her brain frantically thinking back to the moment Sirius pricked himself on her needle during dinner the other night. Remus had caught her openly ogling his friend. She felt her entire body heat up at the thought he might have told them all about it. If Sirius knew she would never be able to look him in the eye again.

"What… no?" Lily replied in surprise. She exited the changing room with her blue ball gown slung over her arm, her brows knitted, "Why would Remus have said that?" she asked curiously.

Lucy closed her mouth, forcing herself to stop talking before she could dig an even bigger hole. "Oh I dunno," she said, "I got confused." She rolled her eyes internally, willing the carpeted floor of the shop to swallow her whole.

Lily raised a fine red eyebrow. "Want me to pick a few out for you, then?" she offered, nodding towards the racks of ball gowns.

Lucy nodded non-committedly, extremely thankful to change the topic. "Why not?" She would probably have woken up from whatever this was before the ball anyway, so it wasn't like the choice in dress mattered all that much.

.o.

"Well?" Lily called. It seemed as if Lucy had been holed up inside the changing room for an eternity.

Finally the curtain swept back and she walked out.

"It's a bit…" Lily started.

"Bag lady chic?" Lucy finished, looking down at the black dress sweeping the floor like an expensive oversized broom.

Lily laughed. "I wouldn't have put it quite like that," she said, "but yes. Try the next one," she urged.

After much scuffling, Lucy came out in another of Lily's choices.

"Too short."

And another.

"Too tight."

And finally the very last one.

"That's the one," Lily said definitely, letting her gaze travel from the sleeveless sweetheart neckline to the cinched in waist and the long, slim skirt of the dress.

Lucy kicked the long split in the skirt up so that she could step forwards without treading on the fabric. "It's a bit long," she noted.

"One word: Heels," Lily stated simply.

Lucy took in her reflection in the shop's mirror just outside the changing rooms. It was a really pretty dress.

"That shade of red really suits your colouring," Lily commented.

"Need any help?" The owner of the shop, Madam Mina, had approached from her alcove behind the till.

"No thank you," Lily replied. "I think we're just about done."

Madam Mina cast a disparaging eye over Lucy's dark red gown. She shuffled over and began fiddling with the back of the dress where the hook and eye catch lay. "It gapes a bit," Mina noticed, pulling it tighter with sturdy hands. Lucy felt herself heaved backwards from the pressure.

"I'll take it in for you," the shop owner offered. And without waiting for an answer, she took out her wand and began waving it purposefully at the fabric.

Lucy felt the back of her dress magically tighten, pressing in on her chest. "Okay," she called quickly, "that's good now, thanks."

"What size heels will you be wearing?" Mina enquired, unperturbed by her customer's inability to breathe.

"No more than four inch," Lily replied definitely.

Lucy spun around feeling like a glorified clothes horse.

Brandishing her wand at the hem of Lucy's the dress, Mina promptly shortened it by a precise two inches. Lily nodded in approval, glancing briefly at the clock.

"Oh Merlin," she breathed. "We were supposed to meet the boys at the pub half an hour ago. Quick," she told Lucy, "get dressed and we'll see if they're still there." Lily bobbed nervously up and down in her seat. "If I miss Sirius's birthday they won't let me forget it."

Lucy went to scramble back into the changing room.

"Nah-ah-ah," Mina said disapprovingly, shaking a finger, "I'm not finished yet. You can't go to a ball in one of my dresses without having it fitted properly. People will talk, I'll lose business."

"But-" Lily tried.

"No buts," Mina replied sternly. She noticed the blue dress still hung over Lily's arm. "If you could try that on for me, I'll get to fitting."

She took in Lily's panicked face.

"If your 'boys' can't wait an extra five minutes, then they don't deserve you," Mina said firmly.

The extra five minutes soon turned into another hour.

They were now the proud owners of two fitted ball gowns, two pairs of heeled shoes, and also extraordinarily late for Sirius's birthday drinks.

.o.

"Come on," Lily encouraged as they raced past the disgruntled witch and wizard shoppers.

They passed a few disapproving tongue clucks, and 'well I never's.

Lucy's shopping bag bumped into an older lady as she ran past. "Youth nowadays!" the old woman exclaimed angrily.

Finally the black and white drawing of The Three Broomsticks came into sight, the pub's freshly painted wooden sign suspended high in the air by a huge frame.

"We're here," Lily panted.

Collecting themselves, they pulled the door open and entered the building. They scanned the various tables, looking for the four recognisable faces.

"Can I *hic* get a drink for you pretty ladies?" one particularly stench-ridden man asked, leaning back from the bar stool to leer at them. His voice was suspiciously slurred.

"Tempting though that is," Lucy muttered, side-stepping away from his outstretched blindly groping hand.

"No, thank you," Lily told him firmly. She pulled them away from him. "They're not here," she said dejectedly.

"They must've got fed up of waiting."

The two girls left the pub in a sombre mood and began the slow trudge back to the Hogwarts carriages. Orange and gold leaves scattered the pavement from the large sycamores dotted around the outer area of the village.

They heard footsteps thudding behind them, but thought nothing of it. A lot of the students had started the walk back to the carriages now as it was nearing the time to leave Hogsmeade.

They found themselves jumping half a mile into the air when large two hands clasped firmly on their shoulders. Lily nearly threw her bags into the air in shock.

.o.

"You missed my birthday celebration," a voice said.

They looked up to find Sirius's hands resting on each of their shoulders. He stood between them, peering down. Though his tone was accusatory, his expression retained a flicker of amusement at their reaction.

Lily ducked away from his grip to turn and face him.

"I'm so sorry, Sirius," she said quickly. "We got stuck in Madam Mina's. She wouldn't let us leave her shop without making our dresses _bespoke_."

He inclined his head. "I _suppose_ I can forgive you," he said, only half feigning reluctance.

Lucy felt his hand still burning into her shoulder.

"Where's James?" Lily queried, pausing to look back behind them. She saw him jogging towards them, with Remus and Peter trailing a little behind him.

At the sight of his friends, Sirius's hand finally fell. Lucy felt the cold hit the space it had taken up.

"Where've you been?" James called to them.

He reached Lily and placed his hands on her waist. "I got worried when you didn't meet us," he said more softly, clearly intended for just her ears. "You hear so many stories nowadays of people just disappearing."

She pulled him down to hug her. "Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself."

"I know," he said. "I can't help it."

"What time do the carriages leave?" Peter asked, his chest heaving from the exertion of catching up as he and Remus came to a stop by them.

"Four o'clock," Lily said.

Lucy checked her watch. "Ten minutes."

"Come on then. Before we miss that too."

.o.

After a quiet ride back they exited the carriages and started to make their way back up to Hogwarts across the grounds.

"Oh, I just remembered," Lily looked back at Sirius, "I bought you a present, do you want it now?"

He looked surprised as she brandished his gift at him, taking it slowly from her.

"Open it," she encouraged him. "I was meant to give it to you in the pub, but well-"

As requested, he ripped at the neat gold paper that the shop assistant had wrapped around it.

"A little bird told me that you were a fan of the artist," she explained, "so when I found out he had a gallery on in the village I had to go and see if there was anything I could get you."

James looked distinctly smug, letting everyone know that the 'little bird' had messy hair and glasses. He held the canvas print of what looked like a replica of a page taken from a spectacularly detailed Japanese comic book. A samurai wielded a long sword and a grimace as he sliced the head from an unsuspecting suited man. Splotches of bright red littered the canvas.

James leaned over his shoulder to see. "Wow Lily, that really is something."

The colours were so vivid it was almost as if they could jump from the page. But they didn't. This particular artist specialised in non-moving pictures, more like a Muggle painting. It was part of the reason Sirius was drawn to him.

He wasn't sure if his fascination with Muggle life came from sheer rebellion against his Pureblood family, or whether he would have developed a genuine interest in them regardless. Either way, the end result was the same.

"Thank you," he said, looking up from the painting to his best friend's girlfriend. It was odd for her to hear him sound so genuine and serious. "It's..." he seemed lost for words, "amazing."

"You're welcome," she flushed a little, smiling. "Let me carry it back for you." She took the canvas and tucked it gently away.

James wrapped an arm around her waist. "You might actually be the perfect girlfriend, d'you know that?"

She smiled. "It's a talent of mine."

The couple walked on slightly ahead of the group, with Peter tailing just behind.

Sirius fell into step with Remus and Lucy.

"Happy birthday," Lucy broke the silence first, glancing up at him walking with long, confident strides at her side.

"Thanks," he replied as if on auto-pilot, keeping his focus trained ahead.

"I got you something," she admitted. "Just something small." Reaching into one of her bags, she pulled out a small jewellery box.

Sirius finally looked her way. "You shouldn't have-" he said, sounding as if he really meant it.

"Just open it," she pressed, wishing he would just take it and say no more about it.

Taking the box from her outstretched hand, he prised it open. An intricate silver charm around the size of a two pence piece winked up at him. It was a miniature motorcycle, not dissimilar to the full sized one he owned.

It hung from a keyring with another little silver tag attached that was etched with the words:

 _'It's not the destination, it's the ride.'_

"It's for your motorcycle keys," she added, trying to steady the burgeoning embarrassment in her voice. He stared at it still sat in the black satin of the box in silence and she felt like she was being engulfed by wildfire.

After what felt like an eternity he looked up, his eyes clashing with hers. He seemed to be asking her why.

"It's your eighteenth," she shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "I had to get you something."

She knew it must have seemed extremely bizarre to him to receive such an intimate gift considering, in this world, they had only just met. But she had read about his life again and again in the Muggle 'fictional' books. Though he had absolutely no idea of it, she had known of him since she was a child, entertaining years of foolish fantasies about him that would make her toes curl to admit aloud.

That was why it had felt perfectly natural to part with a hefty sum of McGonagall's galleons to purchase his present in Ichabod Lane's trinket shop, hurrying the shop assistant's magical inscription along while Lily browsed the back of the long store.

Sirius studied her now as if seeing her properly again for the first time since the Boat House. Without a word, he reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a chunky black topped motorcycle key. With long, deft fingers he threaded the keyring through the hole in the top of the key.

The charm and tag clinked gently against the metal. He flipped it back into the palm of his hand to examine it, something changing in his expression. His eyes moved to the front, looking at each of his friends to ensure that they were paying them no attention.

Remus was chatting to Peter just in front of them. James and Lily continued to lead the way arm in arm.

"Come with me," Sirius muttered to her.

She knew straight away what he meant. His keys were still clasped in his hand, the metal seeming to glow from anticipation. She glanced at Lily reflexively, aware of the promise they had made Dumbledore to stay together.

"She won't even notice," Sirius told her easily. The very corner of his mouth cracked almost indescernibly, his eyes alight with anticipation. "Besides, it's my birthday."

Lucy looked up at his excruciatingly handsome face. She knew that if she turned him down again she would never forgive herself.

Though she hadn't said a word he seemed to sense her growing temptation. Confident that she would follow, he led her away from the group across the grounds back towards the main entrance of the Boat House.

"What d'you fancy doing when we get in, Padfoot?" James called back as they reached the Clock Tower Courtyard.

When no answer came, the group turned around as one.

"Where's Sirius gone?" Peter asked, a confused frown forming on his face.

"Where's Lucy?" Lily demanded.

James waved a hand. "Don't worry so much. If she's with Sirius she'll be fine."

"Oh I'm sure he'll take good care of her," Remus said dryly.

Lily breathed out through her nose. "I am going to kill them both."

.o.

"I take it you don't have a Charms class I should know about this time?" Sirius asked as he rushed to pull the invisibility cloak off his large motorcycle.

He leaned down to slot the key in the ignition, the keyring that Lucy had bought for him rattling against it.

"Potions? Muggle studies?" he enquired.

Lucy snorted. "No."

"No, I don't suppose you'd need that last one too much," he admitted.

He moved quickly and deliberately, taking out his wand and sending his precious bike shrivelling in on itself until it was an eighth of the size. Picking it up, they made their way up and back out of the main entrance. Leading them over to an area with plenty of tree cover, he placed the bike down and wordlessly pointing his wand. In the blink of an eye the bike began to grow again like an expanding bath sponge until it had regained its former girth.

He turned around to face her. She noticed he was practically lit up from within, a fervour in his eyes that was both catching and slightly unnerving.

"Climb on," he ordered.

With just two simple words from him, her anticipation jangled violently. She was sure that her heart would hammer its way out of her rib cage. She took a look behind her in case someone had somehow followed them. The grounds were empty and there was no time to be tentative. Lily was sure to have noticed her missing by now. She would be sending out a search party to hunt them down.

She would probably never trust her again.

Placing her hands on the smooth body of the bike, Lucy swung herself over it, not quite able to believe that she was actually going to go through with it.

Stashing the invisibility cloak in his pocket, Sirius strode over to her as purposefully as she had mounted the bike. In a second he had straddled himself behind her, the front of his body pushing up against her back hard, urging her forwards so that he could reach around her for the handle grips. She felt every part of him press into her, warm and solid.

Murmuring incantations near her ear, she could only guess that they would keep them from being spotted once they were in the air, and perhaps dull the noise of the engine. She felt her eyes close when his lips brushed against the side of her hair, "Ready?" His deep voice spoke low in her ear. It sent a shiver racing through her whole body.

"Ready," she said, her voice strained.

She thought she heard him breathe a soft laugh into her hair as he turned the key in the ignition and the motorcycle thundered to life. His body vibrated against her in response to the shudders crawling up beneath their legs from the force of the engine. Suddenly, they were moving, rumbling forwards.

Rolling his hand back on the throttle expertly, they gained speed quickly. His arm nudged into her with every new increment of speed. The huge front tyre started to lift first, as if the bike was rearing up like a predator. Then the back wheel began to bump against the grassy grounds of the school, preparing itself for lift off. The back wheel took one last push off from the floor and it was up, climbing into the sky with the wheels still turning as if treading on invisible ground.

His arms were locked around her like a cage, both protecting and trapping her in. His stance was confident, his breathing controlled and warm against the side of her head.

"Well?" he asked, his mouth still close to her ear so she could hear him.

She looked down at the miniature houses below them -street lights had started to flicker on with the start of twilight- and started to laugh, feeling slightly hysterical.

"This is amazing!" she called back over the noise of the wind, unable to control her emotion. She had never experienced a thrill as powerful as this before.

His body was shaking against her, and she realised that he was laughing too. Perhaps _at_ her.

She noticed that the bike was losing height and velocity all too soon, lowering back to the ground. Before she knew what was happening they had rolled to a neat stop in the back garden of a ramshackle house. She took in her surroundings with unabridged curiosity.

He had not taken them back to Hogwarts.


	11. The Love Shack

**Chapter 11**

 **The Love Shack.**

"Where are we?" Lucy asked, looking over her shoulder at Sirius dismounting the bike. She felt his warmth and pressure leave her back.

"It's called the Shrieking Shack," he stated, glancing up at the house.

Her pulse thudded at the recognisable name. She knew from the books that this was where the boys' took Remus to carry out his monthly transformations without being disturbed. Somewhere he could escape to in the knowledge that he would hurt no-one.

"People like to believe it's haunted," he said, holding out a hand to help her off the bike.

"And you don't?" she asked, wondering what answer he would give.

"There's nothing worse in the Shack than there is going on out in the world right now," he said matter of factly. "Not at this precise moment, anyway," he added in a lower voice. The full moon wasn't until the middle of the month. "Probably wise not to tell the others we came here," he said as an after-thought as they made their way into the darkened house and closed the door.

She nodded silently, unable to peel her eyes away from the shredded walls and broken, dusty furniture that now surrounded her.

"No wonder people find this place creepy," she muttered, following him up a heavily creaking staircase.

Her gaze flickered towards the back of Sirius's dark hair, wondering why he had brought them here of all places.

"It's a good place to go if you don't want to be found," he said without turning around, answering her unspoken question. It sent a shiver down her spine. Or maybe it was just the wind howling loudly through the house.

"Where are we going?" she murmured.

Without giving a response, he led them up yet another set of stairs.

When they breached the top, they found themselves in an open loft space. It was shadowy and dingy, but a steady circle of moonlight streamed in from a large broken area in the centre portion of the roof. Red tiles littered the floor where the roof had caved in, whether from a storm or other unknown force.

"Sometimes I come up here when I need time alone," he stated, his voice low as if unaware he was speaking out loud.

He conjured a plain woollen blanket on the area of floor bathed in the light from the roof and gestured for her to sit down.

.o.

"Do you know the constellations?" he asked as he took a seat beside her a safe distance away.

"Not really," she replied. "I know a few. Not many."

He waited for her to continue, looking out into the sky rather than over at her.

She pointed to a group of stars to their right. "I think that's the Plough," she started, her voice little more than a whisper, feeling like it wasn't appropriate to talk loudly where they were. Her eyes were drawn to another star that seemed to stand out. Without looking at him she pointed towards it. "That's the brightest star; 'Sirius'."

Silence filled the room. She didn't dare look over at him.

"You missed Orion," he said after what felt like an age. He drew an angled figure eight with his finger, highlighting the stars that made up Orion.

"That's your middle name," she said without realising. She noticed her mistake a second after she had said it.

His face folded into a frown. "How could you know that?"

Lucy's heart skipped a beat. "Lily told me." She was disgusted to find that her lies were becoming easier to tell as time went on. Somehow Sirius accepted it.

"I'm a regular S.O.B," he said with a humourless laugh.

He moved back to his silent star gazing and she knew that she had missed an opportunity. She could have told him right then and there about the so-called fictional books detailing their lives and deaths. Explain to him that it was the reason she seemed to know so much about them all without being told. She could have warned him of how he now had less than four years left before the world as he knew it would be thrown into turmoil, his best friend murdered.

She tried to pretend that the reason she held her tongue was because it was his birthday; she couldn't tell him of his horrible fate on his eighteenth birthday, but deep down she knew that if she told him now, it would ruin any time she had left at Hogwarts. She was keeping his future a secret, and by doing so she was robbing him of the chance to protect himself.

Glancing towards him, she noticed he was sat closer to her than she remembered, his right hand resting on the area of blanket just behind her back, his shoulder leaning into her. The side of his cheek lay within mere inches of her face.

"Sirius, I have to tell you something."

He turned to look at her, a silent expectation in his eyes.

She swallowed. It was now or never. She had to tell him everything. Releasing a breath, she started to speak, "I -"

A discordant clattering noise rang out in the darkness. A loose roof tile had smashed to the floor, missing them by less than a foot. They raised their faces cautiously upwards. The edges of the gap in the ceiling were now teetering dangerously.

She felt herself forced onto her back as more tiles started to rain down around them. After a brief crescendo, finally the building seemed to settle as though heaving a sigh.

Cracking one of her scrunched up eyes open, she saw that Sirius lay heavily on the top of her, forming a barrier between her and the falling debris. It had been his bodyweight that had pushed her to the ground. He looked back at her, a fine layer of dust coating the lengths of his hair. She found herself letting out a laugh of sheer relief.

Sirius's mouth pulled into an uncertain grin in reply. "Well that's never happened before," he commented, his voice reverberating into her chest.

Another tile crashed noisily to the floor of the loft, just missing their heads.

He was up like a flash, pulling her to her feet. "That would be our cue to leave."

.o.

All too soon, the bike pulled into the same area of the Hogwarts grounds that they had left off from, safe amongst the cover of thick trunked trees. The vibrations of the motorcycle engine cut out once again. There was a pause, his hands still on the handlebars and his face resting near the crook of her neck. Finally he released his grasp, leaning back so she could get off.

Casting the shrinking charm on Bertha, they made their way back into the Boathouse. He swept the protection of the invisibility cloak back over the bike.

"I don't get it," Lucy said.

Sirius shot her a questioning look.

"Well, if you can just shrink your bike to take it out of the Boathouse, why don't you just store it like that - save using the invisibility cloak or risking someone finding it," she said.

Sirius shook his head. "Tried that already," he replied simply. "Bertha didn't like it. Wouldn't start up for me for a whole week. Reckon she's got size issues," he said behind the back of his hand, as if shielding his suspicion from the bike to avoiding hurting its feelings.

Lucy let out an uncertain laugh. He was talking about his bike as if it were a real woman.

"We'll take the shortcut back," he said, nodding up the ladder to the concealed hole in the ceiling and leading the way.

"And where have you two whippersnappers been?" the portrait of Percival Pratt demanded as they exited through his secret doorway. "Up to no good, no doubt."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Sirius replied easily.

"Likely not," Percival said curtly.

Making their way further up the grand staircase towards the common room, Lucy felt the beginnings of dread at having to face Lily again.

"Gunpowder, Treason and Plot," Sirius spoke the password to a rather bored Fat Lady. Before he could walk further into the room, Lucy reached out for him.

"Thanks for tonight," she said, keeping her voice quiet.

He nodded in response, his grey eyes as unfathomable as always.

"You get to be reunited with Lily now," he said, a wry smile starting to play on his lips.

"It felt good to have some time away from her," she confessed. Parts of it had felt _really_ good. "It feels like we're attached at the hip."

Sirius breathed a laugh. "That would probably be because you are."

"She won't let me out of her sight now."

"Again, true."

A loaded silence passed between them, and his body seemed to rock, just once, as if he would move forwards towards her.

"Lily," his deep voice speaking another girl's name interrupted Lucy's carnal thoughts. His eyes sharpened as they darted over her shoulder.

"Sirius," a high voice fumed behind her. With immaculate timing, Lily had just stepped through the portrait hole. She stormed over to their side.

"You're lucky I didn't tell McGonagall," she threatened violently.

"We just went for a walk around the grounds," Sirius lied.

She eyed them suspiciously. "You could have just told me."

"Would you have let us go?" he asked.

"No."

He shot her a look, but she stood her ground unapologetically. She pinned Lucy with her stare, "If something happened to you it could quite literally mean the end of my school career, you do realise that?"

Lucy took a breath, trying to remind herself that it was Dumbledore, not Lily, to blame for the fact they were supposed to inseparable during her stay there.

"And on that note, I'm off to bed," Sirius said before he could get moaned at any further. "Night, girls." He gave them a salute.

Just as he turned to leave, his eyes flicked to Lucy's. "Oh, and...thanks for the birthday gift."

She felt a shiver of pleasure race through her as he shot her a secret smile. With that, he was gone, already jogging up the boys' staircase.

Lily let out a sigh of exasperation. "Well that's as much of an apology as I'm going to get from him, I suppose."

She turned to Lucy. "I'm sticking to you like glue from now on, _that_ you can count on."

.oOo.

"Now I think I should warn you," Lily said as they got ready in her bedroom the next morning. "You might find Muggle Studies a little strange to begin with."

Lucy stood in the ensuite bathroom, twisting her hair up into a loose bun. She shot Lily's reflection an inquisitive look.

"Let's just say the teacher sometimes gets the wrong end of the stick when it comes to Muggle inventions," Lily explained, "but generally it's best not to correct her. And by generally, I meant don't. Just don't. Don't even bother."

"O-kay," Lucy mumbled slowly, taking the borrowed hairgrips from between her lips and pushing them into the hair on top of her head to hold it in place.

As it turned out, Lily had not been kidding.

The two girls were forced to sit and listen while Professor Kramp, the elderly Muggle Studies teacher, tried to convince the class that televisions were first invented as a two-way communication device, like a walkie-talkie. When Muggles had realised the picture only transmitted one way, they tried to save face by calling it 'entertainment'.

Lucy bit down hard on the inside of her cheek. It was painful to watch the Purebloods in the class take it all in as if was gospel. It made Muggles seem like a bunch of morons.

But Lily had already told her about the time she had tried to correct Professor Kramp once before in fifth year. Kramp had got _extremely_ upset, telling Lily that perhaps _she_ should selflessly study for years on end to become a Professor, only to have her students think they know better.

Their debate had culminated in Lily receiving her first, and only, detention. It had clearly left a lasting impression on the red head.

"We will now play a little game," Professor Kramp sang. "I will place a Muggle-made object on each of your desks. I want you to work in pairs to guess what the object is used for."

A wave of her wand made the items appear on their tables.

A muted hubbub started as the students began to discuss their items. "Wait just a minute," Kramp called over the noise, " _I_ will choose your pairs."

Lily was put with a half-blood witch who she already seemed to know, called Sally Sparrow. She moved from their desk to meet her.

Lucy felt a murmur of nerves about who she would be paired with. Obviously Professor Kramp hadn't received the memo that she and Lily were supposed to stay together at all times.

"Lucy Hamilton and Alice Prewett," Kramp called, reading from her list.

A girl with a kind face and short blonde hair came to sit at her side. She smiled warmly at her. "Hi," Alice said.

"Hi," Lucy repeated back to her, trying to calm her nerves. It was Neville Longbottom's _mother_.

Alice picked up their object and studied it curiously. "Any ideas?" she asked, clearly confused. She glanced up at her. "I'd hoped that this class would teach me more about Muggles, but I'm afraid it leaves me even more confused."

Lucy wasn't surprised, considering the rubbish she'd heard in the class so far. She took the Muggle item from Alice's offered hand. It was a rubber duck.

"It's a kind of toy," she explained. "Baby Muggles play with them during bath time." She squeezed it until it released a loud squeak.

Alice's mouth formed the letter 'o'. "Right," she said with a smile, "well that was easy!"

"Any ideas?" Professor Kramp asked the class.

Alice immediately put her hand up. Professor Kramp nodded to her. "Yes, Alice?"

"We think ours is a toy that young Muggles play with in the bath," she said confidently.

Kramp shook her head sadly. "'fraid not," she said simply. "Anyone else have any ideas?"

Lucy caught Lily's eye from across the classroom and she looked back tiredly, shaking her head. Kramp was at it again.

"No?" Kramp said. "It is in fact a tool that Muggles use on their garden pond to keep preying birds away from their goldfish. The rubber material of the duck is able to withstand the coldest winters."

"What about the high-pitched squeaking noise that it makes?" Alice said uncertainly, glancing at Lucy.

"Another deterrent for birds," Kramp explained knowledgeably.

Alice looked at Lucy and shrugged. "I was sure you were right," she said in an undertone.

"So was I," Lucy replied dryly.

"Who on earth is that?" Professor Kramp's voice was suddenly incredulous, her expression truly disgusted.

The entire class turned around as one to see what the Professor was looking at.

A rally of shock and laughter echoed around the room. Outside of the classroom window was a pair of very pale bared cheeks. Not of the facial kind.

After illiciting the reaction they were hoping for, the cheeks were finally covered with trousers as the culprit straightened up.

Lucy released a sharp burst of laughter when she discovered exactly who it was. She covered her gaping mouth with her hand.

"Do you know him?" Alice asked, her eyes wider than dish plates.

"It's Tom Boswell," she whispered to her.

"The Quidditch Beater?" Alice hissed.

She nodded.

They both looked back to find Tom buckling his belt as he jogged away, once it was done he ran at top speed. Filch had arrived on the scene, rambling behind him, shouting threats. He didn't stand a chance of catching up with the lithe Beater.

"Oh my God," Lucy breathed, unable to wipe the grin from her face.

"Right, class, back this way please!" Kramp ordered. "I am sure whoever that young man is, he will be apprehended and punished appropriately."

By the time the class had finally calmed down from Tom's interruption, it was almost time to leave.

"Wasn't that the boy who talks to you?" Lily asked curiously once they had walked away from the classroom and out of Kramp's earshot.

"Yeah," Lucy said, holding back another grin.

"He has some nerve," Lily muttered, but even she seemed amused. "Do you think he knew you were in the class?"

Lucy shook her head, "Doubt it."

.o.

"Repulso," she called in the Transfiguration classroom that evening.

She had been summoned for another one-to-one wand skills lesson with McGonagall.

She was trying to follow McGonagall's terse directions to put more oomph into her commands, and was extremely glad that no-one else was around to see her many failed attempts.

The targeted book's pages fluttered as though hit by a gust of wind, but the cover itself stayed firmly on the desk, refusing to bend to her will.

McGonagall looked like she wanted nothing more than to go and have a cup of tea and a shortbread biscuit. But she wasn't about to give up that easy. Lucy had performed magic before, it would just take work. Even if it would take them all night.

"Again," McGonagall demanded curtly.

Lucy looked mutinously at the book, as if it was the book's fault that it wouldn't react to her wand. She channelled the feeling, ordering the book to move.

"Repulso!" she cried impatiently.

As if pulled by invisible strings, the book was flung suddenly from the table.

It flew high and fast, colliding heavily with the cupboards that lined the classroom wall. The pages flew open against the cupboard door like a butterfly pinned to a board, and then it fell with a loud thunk onto the stone floor.

McGonagall sat staring at it, her eyebrows dangerously close to joining her hairline. Her lips were puckered white.

For a second Lucy thought that she was going to explode at her for defacing a school book.

Instead, McGonagall wordlessly swept the book from the floor onto a nearby desk with a wave of her hand and brought her eyes back to her.

"Very good," she said simply. "Let's move on to Levitation."

McGonagall's pronounciation was crisp, "Levioso." The empty cage on her desk, which had previously housed the iguana, rose steadily and without wavering. The professor lowered it back down.

"Repeat this spell," she instructed.

Lucy took a breath. "Levioso," she told the cage, trying to maintain her focus.

To both their surprise, the cage rattled and began to lift itself up.

"You're getting it," McGonagall hissed in utter shock, her voice barely above a whisper as though she was afraid she would jinx it.

The cage remained three inches from the table, swinging slightly, but ultimately stable as Lucy kept her wand and mind trained on it.

A strange sound began to fill the classroom, and she realised that someone was clapping slowly. Her focus darted to the source of the noise in the doorway.

Sirius was stood there looking at the levitating cage, the corner of his mouth pulled upwards.

His grey eyes moved to hers and a loud clatter rang out. The cage had toppled unceremoniously back to the desk along with her lost concentration.

"Detention!" McGonagall snapped at him angrily.

He looked taken aback. "What for this time?"

"For interrupting my lesson," she replied in irritation. "Was there something you wanted, or do you simply enjoy providing a distraction to my students?"

"Just came to see how the lessons were going."

She pursed her lips.

"Indeed," she said, unconvinced, looking between the two of them. "Well if you wish to continue your observation, would you please sit down and be quiet," she said, giving him short shrift.

He pulled a stool from a nearby table and sat down at the side of McGonagall's desk. Clasping his hands in front of him, he peered at them in silence, his mouth twitching ever so slightly.

The Professor shot him an impatient look as if to say 'finished'?

He pretended to turn an invisible lock at the side of his mouth before tossing the invisible key over his shoulder.

She gave him a withering look in response, before turning her attention back to Lucy. "Repeat the spell as if we weren't rudely interrupted by Mr Black."

Lucy did as she was told. The levitation was rickety from nerves that Sirius was watching her. The cage managed only a few centimetres from the desk, but he kept his silence as promised until McGonagall deigned to look over at him once again.

"Since you're here, you can help us with our next task," she told him, her voice oddly vicious.

She positioned them on their feet opposite one another along one of the empty aisles between desks. Around seven feet of floor space lay between them.

"I take it you have your wand?" she asked Sirius.

He answered in the affirmative, his face as confused as Lucy's.

"Take it out," McGonagall instructed.

Quirking an eyebrow, he removed his wand from his belt.

Lucy became instantly perturbed about what she was going to make them do. Surely she wouldn't expect her to fend off an attack from him when she'd only just learned a levitation spell? And a badly performed one at that.

McGonagall stalked over to her side, turning on her heel until they both faced Sirius. Brandishing her wand, the professor flourished it towards him, snapping the disarming charm.

In the blink of an eye his wand was pulled from his grasp and McGonagall caught it one-handed.

Sirius looked extremely put out, not having expected such an attack.

Not seeming to care either way, McGonagall threw it back to him underarm.

"Your turn," she told Lucy bluntly. "Take his wand."

With that, she took a step back and left her facing off against Sirius.

Lucy was surprised to find that a small smirk had crept onto his face. He changed his stance and pointed his wand towards her as if in preparation of throwing a hex her way.

Holding up his free hand, he beckoned her on with his fingers, daring her to make a move.


	12. Thrill of the Chase

**Chapter 12**

 **Thrill of the Chase.**

Sirius looked across the room at Lucy, a wicked grin spread across his face. He crouched his front knee slightly, still in an attack stance, daring her to try and take his wand.

When she hesitated to act, he seemed to grow restless. With one small flick of his wrist he snapped his wand like a whip and she felt a short sharp lash on her backside. Letting out a shocked whelp she jumped to one side with wide eyes.

She wasn't sure whether to laugh, "I cannot believe you just did that," she breathed.

"No?" he said. "Then stop me." He bared his teeth at her in another devilish grin.

"That's enough, Mr Black," McGonagall called lazily, not bothering to look up. She had gone to sit at her desk and was now thumbing nonchalantly through a Country Life magazine, while she sipped at a steaming mug of tea.

Lucy looked over at the Professor incredulously. This had not been part of the plan. Sirius was supposed to _let_ her try disarming him. For practice.

It seemed like he had other plans.

He flicked his wand again to draw her attention back to him. There was another slap across the other side of her rear and she jumped back the other way.

He barked a laugh. "Come on!" he roused. "Surely you can do better than this!"

Seeing him about to snap his wrist at her again, she felt her adrenalin spike. She lashed out at him with the wand and called the disarming spell.

His wand was yanked from his grip by an invisible force and thrown blindly across one of the desks. He stood in dumb shock as he stared at his now empty hand. Once he registered what had happened he barked another loud laugh.

"You're getting better at this," he observed as he straightened up, clearly highly entertained by the whole thing.

She panted from the offensive and the exertion of the spell, her backside stinging where he'd handlessly slapped it.

Finally McGonagall looked up from her magazine. She looked slightly smugly over at them, as though this had been her intention all along.

"Well done, Hamilton," she said. "I'll see you at the same time next week. Oh, and Sirius," she added, "you are welcome to join us." The Professor's mouth twitched, clearly pleased with the job he had done.

.o.

"You managed to surprise old McGonagall," Sirius said as he and Lucy crossed the courtyard back to the Common Room from the Transfiguration classroom. "I think she took your disarmament spell as a personal victory."

"I'm going to get you back for that," she promised violently, bringing a hand to the biting sensation still afflicting her delicate area.

"Oh I really hope you do," he replied, his expression dancing mischievously. "But you'll have to work on your wand skills first."

"I never said I'd do it with a wand," she shot back.

He laughed. "Is that a promise?"

Her eyes flashed dangerously and she went to pull back her hand to make good on it.

But Sirius skipped forwards, "Oh, it won't be that easy."

He walked backwards for a couple of steps. "Perhaps I could rub it better for you?" he offered with a smirk.

She let out an uncertain laugh. "Keep your paws away from it."

He stalled a bit at her choice of language, but assured himself that she couldn't possibly know about his furry alter-ego. He fell into step with her again, glancing sideways at her as they crossed the courtyard back to the Common Room.

"You did well," he admitted.

She glanced up at him. The remnants of a smile were still in his eyes, but it seemed like his words were genuine.

"Even if it did take a bit of persuasion," he added, inclining his head.

"So that's what you call it?"

"Of course in a real duel I would decimate you," he said casually, ignoring her question.

She scoffed. "I never realised how modest you were."

"One day if you're lucky I'll show you what I can really do," he threatened, a glint in his eye.

"Look forward to it," she replied, though she dreaded to think what he was really capable of.

He smirked down at her.

.o.

They entered the entrance to the body of the castle.

As they walked over to the Grand Staircase, she found herself pushed to one side as someone walked into her from behind.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, caught off-guard and colliding hard with Sirius. His arm reached out on instinct and grabbed her around the shoulders.

His head whipped up to find the culprit, his free hand resting on his wand on instinct.

Tom Boswell stood with his hands out. "Sorry," he said quickly, ignoring Sirius's anger. "I didn't mean to hit you so hard."

She softened slightly when she saw who it was. "Tom."

She remembered his cheek-baring outside of the window during Muggle Studies.

"Did they find out it was you?" she wanted to know immediately, all other thoughts on pause.

Sirius narrowed his eyes, having no idea what she was talking about. He pulled his arm away.

Tom seemed confused for a second, then gave a laugh. "You heard about that, then? Yeah, Filch recognised me," he said, a little defeated. "I thought I'd got away with it, but a school owl dropped a detention letter during breakfast post this morning."

She was a bit disappointed. "Oh."

"How did you find out about it?" he asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"I was in the Muggle Studies room."

Tom let out a loud burst of laughter. "Front row seats? You lucky thing."

"Why did you do it?" she asked, realising quickly that it had definitely not been for her benefit.

"The Muggle Studies teacher pisses me off," he shrugged with a grin. "Felt the urge."

She glanced up at Sirius, the smile faltering on her face. He stood with his hands in his pockets, looking disinterestedly away.

Tom noticed her distraction and followed it to her companion. "Are we boring you?" he asked him, clearly amused.

Sirius's eyes locked with his. If he wasn't paying attention before, he definitely was now. "No, I'm sure it was hilarious," he replied sarcastically.

Tom's good-natured smile seemed to fade, his coal black eyes studying him.

"What's your problem, anyway?" he asked. "I've always wondered. You walk around like you own the place."

The light behind Sirius's eyes flared, but his hands never left his pockets. There was a terrifying pause where the two boys stared at one another, weighing one another up.

"Strange," he replied, his voice low, "because I have no idea who you are."

Tom scoffed in disbelief.

"I need to get back to the Common Room, Lily's going to be waiting," Lucy spoke before anything else could be said.

"I'll walk you back," Tom offered immediately, letting his glare fall away from Sirius. He took a step towards her.

Sirius's face was impassive, avoiding her eye contact.

"It's fine," she told Tom.

A brief flicker of disappointment appeared in his eyes, but he nodded. "See you later then, Spacegirl," he said, turning to jog away up the staircase. "Bye, Sirius," he called saccharinely without bothering to turn around.

Sirius's jaw clenched. He looked like he wanted to run up behind Tom and clamp Padfoot's teeth where it hurt.

"Lily's going to send out a search party after the other night," Lucy said when he had disappeared from view.

Sirius's eyes landed on her face as though he'd forgotten she was there.

They walked up the staircase without speaking. She could not think of anything to say that didn't sound like contrived small talk after what had just happened.

"Why didn't you go with him?" he asked finally, his voice controlled.

"I'm already with you," she replied as if it was obvious.

Sirius didn't give a response, his face as stoic as it ever was.

.o.

"I thought Sirius was going to punch him," Lucy whispered as she and Lily lay in bed in the dark that night.

She had needed to share it with somebody, and Lily had listened in silence.

"I wondered why you were late back," Lily murmured thoughtfully. "I'm impressed Sirius didn't hit him, he's not known to be shy with his fists. He's lost his temper for a lot less than that in the past."

"I've never known Tom to be like that," Lucy said. "He always seems so easy going."

"Maybe Sirius is his exception."

"You should've seen his face," Lucy muttered. "Remind me not to get on his bad side."

Lily gave a small smile. "I wouldn't worry."

"What do you mean?"

"Well if he didn't like you, he wouldn't give you the time of day, for a start," she said simply. "And that's if you were lucky. I've seen how Sirius treats people he doesn't like. Believe me when I say, you definitely wouldn't be left to guess if you were one of them."

She had meant in the platonic sense.

"Has he had many girlfriends?" Lucy couldn't stop herself from asking. It wasn't mentioned in the books at all, his love life one of the few details of their lives that remained an enigma.

Lily seemed to try and study her face in the shadows of the room.

"He's had a few," she replied slowly.

Lucy was desperate to ask more, but the red head already seemed suspicious of her motives.

"He dated Marlene McKinnon the longest, sometime last year," Lily continued without being pushed. "I think it lasted around six weeks. He's not big on commitment."

There was something about her guarded voice that sounded like a warning.

"Once the thrill of the chase is over and he's got what he wants, he tends to move on pretty quickly," she continued, letting her words hang in the air.

"Oh right," Lucy replied, trying to act like she didn't care, wishing that she had never started the conversation. She didn't want to know how many different girls that Sirius had dumped after he had got 'what he wants' over the years.

And yet, maybe that all she needed. A one-time chance to get what _she_ wanted with him, and then she could move on and go home without feeling robbed.

"Maybe one day the right woman will change him," Lily finished, though Lucy could tell that she didn't believe her own words.

.oOo.

"Shh!" James hissed, turning to glare at Peter as the smaller boy tripped over his own feet.

Across the other side of the castle the Marauders had ventured out after hours.

Sirius had managed to convince them that if they struck after dark, they might have a chance of recovering their beloved Marauder's Map from the caretaker's clutches.

"Room 234-00," he read the sign on the door. Filch's Office. They knew it only too well.

Remus had tagged along most unwillingly, unable to refuse considering they needed it to help his lycanthropic escape during the Yule Ball. With the use of the Marauder's Map, they would be able to see exactly where all of the partying students were and get out of the castle unnoticed.

Pointing his wand at Filch's door, James unlocked it silently.

The lock gave a satisfying ' _clunk_ '. It was almost too easy. As a squib, Filch didn't have the use of extra protection charms to guard his belongings.

Not daring to ignite their wands, the boys fanned out around the room, using only the light from the moon in the window to guide their way.

There was a brief clatter where Peter tripped over a chair leg.

"For Merlin's sake just stay still if you can't be quiet," Sirius snapped.

"I think I've found it," Remus's whisper cut through the room. He pushed his hand further inside the drawer and pulled out a large, folded piece of parchment.

"Let's get out of here," James said quickly.

A loud hissing noise cut them off.

Filch's cat, Mrs Norris, had jumped in front of the door to block their exit.

James bent down to push it to one side, but she lunged for him like a snake, her sharp pointed canines burying themselves into his hand.

James retracted it immediately. "Why am I always the one who gets bitten?" he cried sourly.

Another door at the back of the room opened and Filch's scowling face appeared from the shadows.

"What have we here, Mrs Norris?" his voice sounded like crunching gravel. "Thieves."

"Considering the map is ours, I'd say that makes you the thief," Sirius pointed out insolently.

James pulled open the door, pushing Mrs Norris away ungracefully. She leapt to one side with a mutinous howl.

They started to sprint, knowing that they could outrun Filch easily. Once they had got the map to safety they could hide it and deny its existence to anyone Filch told. They would take whatever punishment they were given in the knowledge that the map was back in their hands.

They had just turned the corner when tiny padding footsteps raced up behind them. Remus felt the map tug in his hand. Mrs Norris had jumped up and snatched it from his grip.

James pointed hexes at the cat's retreating furry back as she rushed back to her master with their creation.

She dived lithely from spot to spot, narrowly avoiding the bursts of red light from James's wand.

"Little shit," he breathed.

"You need to work on your aim, mate," Sirius said.

James raised his eyebrows at him, "If we weren't using my invisibility cloak on your bloody bike, maybe they wouldn't have seen us in the first place?"

Sirius looked unapologetic. "It's worth it."

"Get here!" Filch called to them. He had finally caught up.

The boys turned on their heel and jogged back to their Common Room.

They stepped over the boundary, panting slightly.

"Back to the drawing board," Remus said grimly, drawing out a staggered breath.

"We'll get you past the Yule Ball one way or the other," Sirius promised.

"We leave school next year, I s'pose," James reasoned. "Maybe a future student will manage to steal it back from Filch's grubby mitts."

"Merlin, I really hope so," Sirius shook his head. He hated the thought that Filch would have his sticky grip on it forever.

"It will be our legacy," James said grandly. "Our gift to future marauders."

"Maybe our sons will use it," Peter chimed in, a far-away look on his face.

Sirius snorted a laugh. "First you'll have to find a girl willing to share a bed with you, Wormy. It's a tall order."

He was grinning, but Peter looked genuinely hurt. "I suppose you're right," he muttered.

Sirius clapped him on the back. "I'm joking with you. We'll find you someone, I'm sure." He looked to James. "Perhaps Lily has a friend with eyesight problems?"

Not seeming to notice the insult, Peter looked to James feeling more hopeful already.


	13. Beauty School Drop Out

**Chapter 13**

 **Beauty School Drop Out.**

"I will be back in two hours, maximum," Lily promised Lucy as they left the Great Hall after dinner the following evening. "We just need to finalise the details of the Yule Ball and then I will be back for you."

"Got it," Lucy replied. This was at least the third time they'd been over this.

Beneath Lily's reassurance, she knew that she was really warning her not to do anything while she was gone.

She was just glad that Lily didn't know about her excursion to the Shrieking Shack with Sirius. She probably would have shot through the roof.

"And if any of the boys ask you to go with them somewhere…?" Lily pressed, though really there was only one of the 'boys' that she was worried about.

"'Back off and stop compromising Lily's position at Hogwarts with impetuous actions'," Lucy repeated the spiel Lily had told her to say in a monotone voice.

"You coming, Lil?" James called over to them. Despite the additional responsibilities, he was starting to enjoy the extra time with Lily that came with their Head duties.

Lily looked back at Lucy as though contemplating whether she could bundle her in her pocket and take her along.

"Go," Lucy urged, ready to have a break from the Head Girl's slightly overbearing tendencies. "I'll be fine. I have my orders."

Lily looked at her apologetically. "Sorry," she murmured. "It's not that I don't trust you, it's just-" she trailed off and glanced over at Sirius. When he noticed her looking, the corner of his mouth pulled into a slight grin.

Lily sighed. "I will be back in less than two hours," she repeated firmly.

Shooting Sirius one last warning look, Lily reluctantly headed off with James.

"You coming, Lucy?" Remus called as they turned to make their way back to the Common Room.

Lucy trotted over to them. Surely Remus wasn't off limits?

"What are you going to do with your new found freedom?" he asked her with a faintly amused smile as she walked by their side.

"Lily's got it covered," she replied, "I'm to wait in the Head Girl's quarters."

Sirius quirked an eyebrow. "But how will she know any different?" he asked, as if daring her to rebel.

Remus gave him a look to stop stirring the pot.

Lucy gave a half-shrug. "It's not like I've got anywhere else to be anyway."

"Has Dumbledore said anymore about you getting home?" Remus asked, as though the thought had just occurred to him.

Lucy paused. It was easy to believe that she belonged at Hogwarts while she was sitting in lessons and walking around the increasingly familiar castle. She could learn to forget that she had a life back in her world that was still going on without her.

But deep down she knew her friends and father would probably be worried about her, and Remus had brought it crashing back to the forefront of her mind. Would they have called the police to report her missing, she wondered? Would she be in trouble when she returned?

 _If_ she returned, she reminded herself. As the weeks passed it was looking increasingly likely that she would never see her old life again.

"No," she replied quietly, the simple word stuck in her throat.

"Dumbledore said the worlds would untwist eventually," Sirius told Remus. "But he couldn't guarantee when."

Remus raised his eyebrows. "Sounds…vague."

He peered across at Lucy. "How are you coping? I sometimes forget that you don't really belong here."

"I'm okay," she lied, unable to voice any of what she really felt.

A long, comforting arm squeezed her shoulders ever so briefly. "It'll turn out alright in the end," Remus said softly before pulling away, "you'll see." He studied her with his intelligent amber eyes.

"Hope so," Lucy forced a weak smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Sirius kept his gaze trained ahead, saying nothing.

When they reached the entrance to Lily's Dormitory, she separated from them as promised.

.o.

When Lucy stepped into Lily's bedroom, she took a cathartic intake and release of air. She couldn't remember the last time she had been completely alone.

Kicking off her shoes, she walked over to the bookcase. Escaping into a book would take her mind off things. She scanned the spines, remembering suddenly that 'escaping into a book' was precisely what had got her into this mess in the first place.

"Maybe not," she muttered, letting her finger sweep past the fictional stories. Her focus landed instead on the spell books.

She let her eyes skim along the titles until they landed on one called ' _True Beauty_ '. Hooking a finger into the top of the cover she pulled it down.

"Beautification spells for beginners," she read aloud.

Flicking through the book, a nail manicure charm caught her attention. She took it over to Lily's bed, placing it in front of her crossed legs.

Before attempting it in earnest, she first read the spell through in her head, trying to work through the pronunciation of the words. Then when she was satisfied that it seemed fairly straightforward, she murmured the incantation and pointed the wand at her fingernails.

A shiny burgundy colour began to trickle down each of her nails until they were completely covered. She had to suppress the wide grin that grew across her face. It had actually worked. And there was no one around to show.

She wiggled her fingers in front of her, amazed by it.

Spurred on by her minor success, she continued on towards the back of the book. The spells got trickier and more long-winded the further back she went.

An illustration of a woman with brightly coloured locks made her hand pause. It was a hair colourant incantation.

She had already performed one charm with perfect results, Lucy reasoned... what was the worst that could happen?

The picture of the woman with rainbow hair tempted her on.

Uttering the spell with her new-found confidence, Lucy added in her choice of colour where it was instructed and pointed the wand at her hair.

She threw her legs onto the floor and rushed to the bathroom to see if it had worked. A burst of laughter escaped her lips; the whole of her long wavy hair had turned a soft pink, just as she had imagined.

She couldn't help but feel a rush of smugness, pulling it up onto her head and letting it tumble down like a fountain of pink icing.

Bending over the bed she read the spell again, but this time added in the colour black. She had always wanted to be a raven haired goddess, it was much more interesting than her own hair colour.

Like last time, Lucy paced over to the bathroom mirror. Unlike last time, the spell had not worked.

Her eyebrows knitted together, wondering if she'd said something wrong.

She read the spell again, dashing over to the mirror. Again it had not worked.

Feeling the panic begin to rise in her chest she followed the instructions for the colour reversal instead. This time she looked down at her hair hoping to see her usual dark blonde looking back at her. Instead she was greeted by the same pastel pink.

Walking slowly over to the bathroom mirror she felt the dread start to trickle through her. Perhaps the colour removal moved progressively from the back of her head to the front. Perhaps it had worked on select sections.

One glance told her that this was definitely not the case.

Lucy stood there crushed by her own stupidity. She couldn't walk around Hogwarts like this. Mary Macdonald would have a field day.

And _Sirius_.

"Oh God, he cannot see this."

After what felt like an age, Lily finally walked back through the bedroom door. She peered over at Lucy, sat in silence on the bed with her chin resting on her hand looking supremely fed up.

"You used the hair charm from that book, didn't you?" Lily said immediately.

"Please tell me you can fix it."

Lily looked like she was holding back a smile. She went to sit at Lucy's side, picking up a strand of her pink hair.

Lily held back a chuckle. "Okay, let's see what we can do," she said, twisting the book around to face her. She locking her fingers together importantly and pushed her arms out in a satisfying crack, preparing herself for some serious corrective magic.

She could do this.

.o.

Half an hour later, Lily crept down the Head Girl Dormitory stairs.

She could not do this.

"It's clear, come on," she beckoned to Lucy.

Lucy pulled the hat that she had borrowed further down her head, masking as much of her tucked up locks as possible. They walked through the groups of chatting students in the main Common Room, trying to attract as little attention as possible.

They were heading for McGonagall's office, with Lily carrying the culpable beauty spell book underneath her arm.

She pulled open the portrait door and closed it safely behind them.

Lucy allowed herself a small sigh of relief; the worst part was over. Her breath staggered its way out of her when she heard Lily's strained voice say, "James!"

"No," Lucy mouthed pathetically, pulling anxiously on the hat.

"Where're you two off to?" James asked, intrigued.

To her great horror, she saw that he was flanked by Sirius. Unlike James, he seemed to notice her odd choice of indoor headwear almost instantly, looking over the top of Lily's shoulder at her.

He shot her a strange look.

She quickly wondered if she could back away into the Common Room before they started to ask too many questions.

But it was too late; James had finally pulled his attention away from Lily. He looked over at Lucy, his smile faltering. "Why are you wearing a bobble hat?" he asked bluntly.

Lily pressed her lips together, glancing back at Lucy bedecked in her thick black winter hat, a large woollen bobble resting comically on the top of her head.

Lucy widened her eyes at her silently, asking for inspiration. The ball on her head wobbled along excitedly as she did.

"Er-" Lily started. "Her head was cold?"

James narrowed his eyes, peering at Lucy more closely. He fingered an oddly coloured tuft that had escaped at the base of her hat, a wave of realisation crossing his face. In one movement he had pulled the protective cover from her head.

A mass of pink toppled out around her shoulders.

Both boys stared openly at her, dumbstruck.

James was the first to react, his amusement growing until a barrage of laughter smacked her full in the face. He doubled over with it, "Oh Merlin," he gasped. He seemed unable to look at her without setting himself off again.

"You were left alone for _two hours_ ," he breathed, "and you look like ice-cream."

"I'm glad you find it funny," Lucy replied. "How was I supposed to know that the spell was designed to last for a week?"

At this new information, James burst into a fresh peal of laughter.

Lucy gave him a withering look, ready to stuff the hat back on her head.

"Hold on," Sirius said, pulling his wand from his belt as she reluctantly let the hat drop.

"I've already tried to correct it," Lily said a bit impatiently.

Sirius did not acknowledge her, instead taking a step towards Lucy and standing over her. Even though he was clearly amused by her hair she couldn't help the reaction that her body gave to his close proximity.

She felt his hand brush her neck as he lifted a section of her hair up, letting his palm slide all the way down as he examined the soft wave of colour. She tried to blink her eyes into focus, forcing herself not to melt at his touch.

He tilted his head to one side. "It suits you," he observed in a low voice, a grin starting to grow on his face.

"Think you can fix it?" James's voice behind him made them both start guiltily.

Sirius swept his wand arm over Lucy's head, murmuring words that she could not make out. She wasn't sure if the tingling she felt was because the spell was working or because of Sirius's presence in general.

Taking a step back, Sirius and James admired his handywork. James inclined his head, "She looks less like candy floss now," he said.

Lucy picked up a piece of her hair, it had indeed returned to its natural shade.

"There are still pink bits, but at least it's not as bad as it was," Lily conceded.

"Thanks," Lucy said to Sirius, touched that he had helped her.

"Can't let McGonagall know you've been practising your magic without her, can we?" he replied with a nonchalant smile.

"Speaking of McGonagall, that reminds me," James said, looking to Lily. "I've had another idea for the Yule Ball."

Lily quirked an eyebrow, letting him lead her back into the Common Room. "For someone who won't be around for much of it, you're putting a lot of thought into it," she noted.

"I feel inspired," he joked. "Anyway, I found out this bloke on the Quidditch team plays with a band called Hex Pistols. I've listened to them, they're pretty good. I was thinking they could work as the main entertainment at the ball. If they agree, obviously."

Lily nodded, "We'll run it past Dumbledore. Maybe they can give him trial run of their music."

Lucy watched as James led Lily away talking conspiratorially.

She turned back to face Sirius, feeling strangely nervous despite the fact that this was not the first time that they had been alone.

It was almost as if the stakes were higher now; she realised that she was starting to have real feelings for him. Surpassing any mere character in a book.

"Glad you two came by when you did," she admitted, refusing to allow the pregnant quiet that had idled between them to take over. "It would have been more than my life is worth having to show McGonagall my neon pink hair."

Sirius smirked, holding the portrait door open for them to walk through, "Perhaps you should've just kept it. You could have matched it with your Yule ball gown."

"As attractive as that would obviously be, my dress is red."

"You've bought your gown already?" Sirius asked, the smile falling from his face. "The ball is in December."

Lucy knew what he was thinking. She was making a massive presumption that she would still be at the school in a month's time.

"I know," she replied, "Lily managed to persuade me. I don't have any of my own clothes to make do with if I am still here, and Dumbledore said where Lily goes I go. It was just a precaution," she finished, feeling slightly foolish.

There was something else that had crossed her mind lately, but she had not had the courage to put words to; something that would have felt like second nature to do in her usual dreams about Hogwarts.

She swallowed, the question on the very tip of her tongue.

Sirius turned to look at her, as if sensing that she had more to say.

"If I am still here, will you go to the ball with me?" she asked.


	14. Hex Pistols

**Chapter 14**

 **Hex Pistols.**

Sirius's grey eyes studied Lucy until she wished she'd never asked the question.

When he finally answered he was unsmiling. "I can't."

"Are you going to the ball at all?" she heard the words leave her mouth.

Sirius continued to stare at her. "Yes," he said eventually.

"So you just don't want to go with me," she realised.

Sirius's focus darted away when he noticed Remus join James and Lily across the room. They were still preoccupied in talking about the ball.

Using his distraction, Lucy turned away and walked in the opposite direction.

"I'll meet you upstairs," she said to Lily as she made her way past. There was no point hanging around to hear anymore, he had given her his answer.

She had half expected him to make a joke out of her asking him, or tell her he was going with someone else. But not this. The way he had acted was as if the idea was so unimaginable he couldn't even process it.

.o.

"What was that about?" James called over to his friend once Lucy had left their sight.

Sirius shook his head slightly, making his way over to them.

"She asked me to the Yule ball," he replied, his gaze flitting to Lily.

Her brow furrowed in confusion.

"She didn't tell you she was going to?" James asked her.

"If anything I warned her away from him," Lily replied.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at this. "Warned her away?"

Lily looked a little uncomfortable. "It's just you're not the most reliable," she clarified, "when it comes to girls. Even you have to admit that…"

Sirius's eyebrow rose a little further.

"Or maybe you don't," Lily muttered. She sighed, realising she was digging herself a hole. "She won't be here for much longer. I just didn't think there was much point her pinning her hopes on you when you're obviously not interested, that's all."

"I knew it!" James said triumphantly. "I knew she liked him."

"She doesn't know him," Lily countered. "They've only just met. You can't like someone that much just like that," she snapped her fingers to illustrate her point.

Something about his friend's choice of words struck an odd chord in James. It made him lose himself in thought.

"It's almost like she does though, isn't it?" he asked in a low voice, interrupting the direction of the conversation. "It's almost as if she knows all of us."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, having completely lost the thread.

"I'm not sure, myself," James murmured. "Only sometimes she'll say things, about our lives – things she can't possibly know."

"What are you on about?" Sirius asked, unsure whether or not to laugh.

Remus caught James's eye. "She said she knew who we were, when she first got here," he realised.

"She said we looked nothing like she had always imagined us," James remembered, his voice strengthening.

"Always imagined you?" Lily pulled a face. "Are you sure that's what she said?"

Sirius's eyes flickered in recognition. Though he had been disguised as Padfoot that night, he had heard every word. "Sometimes it feels like she already knows things about me, whether I want her to or not," he realised.

"What answer did you give her about the ball?" James asked.

"I said no," Sirius replied, looking into the flames licking at the sides of the fireplace.

James nodded, satisfied. "We need to keep our focus on getting Remus out of there. We can't afford distractions."

"Did you give her a reason why?" Lily asked.

"What excuse could I have given?" Sirius asked her. "One of my best friends turns into a werewolf on the night of the ball and I have to transform into a dog so he doesn't go on a bloody rampage around Hogwarts. Don't you just hate when that happens?" His voice was laden with sarcasm.

Lily mouth set into a straight line. "And this is exactly the reason I told you to stay away from one another. The way you're going...sneaking off together to who knows where and getting up to Merlin knows what. It looks suspiciously like you're leading her on, Sirius."

Sirius frowned. "Fine," he replied, "I won't so much as glance in her direction from now on in case she misreads it as a marriage proposal. Satisfied?"

Lily let out a sharp release of breath.

"All I'm asking is for you to let me do my job and take care of her," she said seriously. "We clearly don't know what we're dealing with."

"You really think she could be dangerous?" James asked, surprised.

Lily looked uncertain. "No," she replied unconvincingly.

"We don't even know where she came from," Remus agreed in a low voice. "And Lucy hasn't exactly been forthcoming with answers. Lily's right, we should be erring on the side of caution. It's the sensible thing to do."

Sirius looked away from both of them, looking over at the now empty staircase he had just watched Lucy disappear up.

"Well?" Lily prompted him. "Do I have your word that you will leave her to me from now on, for both of your sake?"

There was a moment's delay before he gave a single nod.

.o.

Sitting down to breakfast the next day, Sirius piled his plate with as much as he could fit on.

"Hungry?" Remus enquired, peering over the top of his porridge.

"Not really," Sirius replied, adding more food. "Where's Prongs and Pete?" he asked, casting an eye along the table.

"Still in bed, I suppose."

There was a silent agreement not to talk about their discussion the previous night any further.

Sirius shovelled a forkful into his mouth, chewing and swallowing quickly. "I was thinking we could try casting stronger Confundus and Shield charms on Bertha today, to free up James's invisibility cloak for the ball."

Remus nodded, reaching for a fresh red apple. He had thought it was a bad idea for Sirius to bring his motorcycle to school in the first place.

"Don't want it to end up like the other night with Filch," Sirius continued. He was still sore that they had been outsmarted by a Squib. He knew that they would probably never see the Marauders Map again.

"I'll pick up some deflection spell books for her from the library," Remus offered in a low voice. "Maybe we can get a pass into the Restricted Section again if we pretend it's for coursework."

.oOo.

Lucy's eyes squinted open. It was Saturday morning. She could hear Lily's humming coming from the locked bathroom. As if on cue, the bathroom door opened and Lily's pretty face came out surrounded by freshly washed and dried hair.

"Morning," she called, her voice jarringly chirpy. "I was thinking we could head down by the lake today. A few of my friends are waiting down there you'd like to meet them?"

The night before came flooding back to Lucy in one fell swoop. She pulled the covers over her head in a rush of embarrassment.

She had _asked Sirius to the ball._

Lily strided over to where she was still tucked up in her bed and began to wrest the blankets from her fingers. "If this is about Sirius, you shouldn't let it bother you. I warned you about what he was like."

"Lily, stop," Lucy exclaimed, the blankets yanked from her head as she was forced into a sudden tug of war with the red head.

Lily started laughing. "You should see your hair." She gave another sharp tug, which Lucy reciprocated. "You'll have to come out sooner or later. Don't make me use magic," Lily said between gritted teeth.

Lucy let go without warning and Lily was sent staggering back a couple of steps with fistfuls of her blankets still clutched in her vice-like grip.

Lily gave a sigh and dropped them back on her bed. "I get that you're upset..."

"I'm not upset," Lucy corrected. "I'm humiliated. I don't know why I asked. It just felt like I had nothing to lose. You should have seen the way he looked at me."

Lily walked over to her and held out a hand. "Come on," she urged, waiting for Lucy to take it. Reluctantly, Lucy reached out and let her help pull her up.

"For what's it worth I don't think it was personal," Lily told her, choosing her words carefully. "Just keep away from him from now on. I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but I've told you both before to watch what you're doing. Going off together like that to Merlin knows where."

"Well you don't need to worry about that anymore," Lucy replied dryly, "because I'll never be able to look him in the eye ever again."

Lily gave her a sad smile. "Just come and have fun at the lake. You'll soon forget all about Sirius 'My Hair is Far Too Perfect For My Own Good' Black."

Lucy breathed a quiet laugh through her nose.

"Fine."

.o.

Bundling herself into the oversized grey jumper that Lily had given her to stave off the cold, Lucy followed her down to the Great Lake.

"They're over there," Lily pointed to a small group of girls sat at the edge of the water.

"You've met Alice," she said, pointing her out in the distance, "and Marion, sat next to her, is really lovely."

"Who's the third girl?" Lucy asked, wondering why Lily had left her out.

"Hmm?" Lily said, as if she hadn't realised her mistake. "Oh, that's Marlene."

Lucy's pulse drummed. "Marlene McKinnon?" Sirius's ex-girlfriend. Lily had mentioned her the other night.

"Yeah, that's right," Lily said innocently.

Lucy felt her stomach drop. This had not been part of the plan. Before she could even begin to imagine ways of getting over having to meet with Sirius's ex, she saw a familiar figure jogging over to them.

"Hey, Spacegirl," Tom greeted Lucy cheerfully.

Lily looked at him pointedly. "You again?"

Tom seemed to find her hostility amusing. "Where you off to?" he asked.

"The lake."

Tom nodded. "You could always come and watch my band practice instead?" he offered. "Not quite as interesting as the lake, I must admit, but…you can both come," he added temptingly.

"I've already promised the girls that I'll meet them," Lily brushed him off.

"Oh, well in that case you can go do that and Spacegirl here can come with me," Tom replied simply.

Lily looked to Lucy for help getting rid of him, but her face fell.

"I would like to go and see it," Lucy admitted.

She really was eager to see a real-life wizarding band. Not having to endure the awkwardness of meeting Marlene was a handy extra.

Lily shook her head infinitesimally, trying to communicate with her that it was a bad idea. When it became clear that it wasn't working Lily looked defeated.

"Fine," she stated tiredly. "If that's really what you want, I suppose an hour won't hurt." She planted her bright green eyes on Tom, "I want her back in one piece or I _will_ come looking for you," she warned him seriously.

"Alright, mum," Tom joked.

"Oh you think this is funny?" Lily asked.

"Obviously not," Tom's laugh faltered on his face.

Lucy felt herself wither inside. Lily was taking her role of protector more seriously by the day.

"It's alright," she tried to keep her voice placating as she placed a hand on Lily's arm. "Dumbledore said what a good student Tom was. I'm sure I'm in safe hands." She looked to Tom to back her story up.

Tom glanced from her to Lily, seeming to pick up on it. "Yes," he confirmed. "Very safe hands. See?" he held up his large palms as if to demonstrate, "Safe as houses."

Tom seemed like he was biting back his amusement, something that Lucy was very glad that he did not let it out. Lily looked ready to hex him.

"One hour," Lily reminded her. "You can meet me back here."

"I'll see you then," Lucy replied. "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine."

Before Lily could change her mind, Tom hooked his hand around Lucy's waist, guiding her away. Lily huffed unhappily, but turned around to make her way begrudgingly over to the girls still waiting by the lake.

When they were out of earshot Tom let out a laugh. "What was that about?"

"Nothing. She just gets a bit over-protective."

"Over-protective? That's the understatement of the century," Tom replied. "You have really weird friends."

"What?"

"Black and now the Head Girl," Tom explained.

Lucy had forgotten about Tom and Sirius's stand off the other night.

"I wouldn't exactly call Sirius a friend," she muttered dryly.

"No?" Tom looked intrigued. "Why are you always talking to him, then?"

Lucy took a breath, unsure of what to say.

Tom smiled grimly, "You like him, don't you?"

He glanced down at her face as if trying to garner the truth, but she turned it away from him.

"Just through here," he guided her into the castle.

They walked into a high ceilinged room with a few rows of chairs set out in front of a small, hastily built platform. The makeshift stage was made from lines of countless overturned crates.

Two other boys were already stood up on it, examining their instruments and strumming out a few practise notes.

The large drum kit at the back bore the name 'Hex Pistols'. A boy with long brown straggly hair had his head resting on the skin of a drum, twisting bolts at the side.

"Boys, this is Lucy," Tom called to them. There was a murmur of grunts and nodded heads as they acknowledged her. "You can sit in one of the chairs just there if you like," he pointed one out to her.

The drummer lifted his face and peered over at them. "There's a spare chair up here if she wants it," he offered in a sleepy voice, gesturing up with them.

"I'll sit over here," Lucy said, taking one of the seats Tom had suggested in the third row in front of the stage.

Tom climbed lithely onto the platform and grabbed the bass guitar that his bandmates had left out for him. It was already connected to the amplifier.

"You ready?" he asked them.

"Born ready," the potato-faced guitarist replied.

He drew his plectrum down the strings and the amp kicked in, a whine accompanying the strumming noise.

She fought the urge to immediately fling her hands over her ears. It was unnaturally loud. It made her wonder if they had added an extra magical oomph of amplification.

For both her own and Lily's sake, she prayed they had covered the room in quietening charms. The last thing either of them needed was for McGonagall to storm in and catch her with three unfamiliar wizards.

Tom grabbed the Muggle-like microphone and began to shout out anarchic lyrics to the pounding beat. He seemed to be using the mic as a prop to throw around as much as for any technical benefit.

After the initial shock, Lucy was surprised to find that they were actually pretty good. There was something about them that made up for any bum notes that snuck out. And behind all of the added volume it seemed like they were actually in tune. Most of the time, anyway.

The song ended and Tom looked over to her with a lopsided grin.

She clapped out a round of applause over the top of her head. "Amazing," she shouted through the silence, her ears ringing.

Tom laughed at her, "You get used to the noise."

He muttered something to the others that Lucy's abused ears had no hope of hearing and they nodded, grinning lazily back at him as he left the stage.

He made his way over to her, plopping into the seat next to her. "Better than sitting at the lake?" he asked with a grin.

"What?" Lucy shouted, scrunching up her face. Even though he was right next to her, his voice sounded muffled like he was speaking into his sleeve.

Tom laughed again.

He placed an arm over the back of her chair and leaned into her, placing his mouth against her ear.

"I said do you want to come to the ball with me?" he murmured, his lips pressing against her hair.


	15. The Ex

**Chapter 15**

 **The Ex.  
**

This time Lucy definitely heard what Tom had said.

She sat stock still, facing forward. He was still leaning over her, waiting for a response.

She peered sideways at him. He was so close she could see every detail of his face. The smooth pale skin of his angled jaw and his dark eyelashes. From this distance she could see the nuances of colour in his normally pitch black eyes. He was handsome in a completely different way to Sirius.

"Okay," she said.

Even Tom seemed taken aback. "As in-?"

"As in yes, I'll come to the ball with you," she said, unable to resist an uncertain smile at his pleased reaction. Tom had somehow ended up as one of her best friends at the school, even though it wasn't really saying a lot.

Regardless, it would be better than going on her own while Lily rushed around with her Head Girl duties.

"Just as friends, though?" she clarified. It was pointless going with him if he was going to have expectations that she wouldn't fulfil.

Tom blinked, that was not what he had originally hoped for. "Sure, I'll take it," he relented.

He got up to return to the stage and Lucy saw him give a hidden thumbs up to his bandmates. The potato-faced guitarist smirked knowingly at her as Tom retook his instrument from the floor.

"1, 2, a 1, 2, 3, 4," Tom counted them in and they started their second song called 'Merlin save the Ministry'.

Sometime during the second chorus the door to the room opened. Lucy glanced over to see who it was and felt her stomach give an aggressive flip flop.

A familiar head of hair had stepped through it.

.o.

James walked over to the stage, waving his hands to attract the band's attention, his mouth was moving but no sound could be heard over the noise of the music.

Lucy began to shrink down in her chair in the hope that he would leave without noticing her. She eyed the floor, contemplating crouching between the chairs.

Finally spotting James, the band stopped playing and the air filtered into quiet.

"I came to ask if you would be up for playing at the Yule Ball," James shouted, as if he was still trying to be heard over the noise. When he realised they had stopped, he continued at a more normal pitch, "I've ran it past Lily and she thinks McGonagall will be up for listening to what you have to offer."

Tom seemed caught off-guard, looking to the rest of the band for their opinion. They were all pleased that someone had recognised their unique artistry.

"I mean, probably best to turn the volume down a bit for the ball," James added, "and maybe try a song with fewer profanities. But it would be good to have student talent showcased."

"Sure, why not?" Tom nodded. "We'll still have time for our dates, right?" he added, gesturing proudly towards Lucy.

Lucy's heart stalled when James's eyes met with hers. He raised his eyebrows in shock and then drew them together.

She waited for him to say something; to ask what she was doing there or what Tom meant about her being his date, but he just looked at her strangely as though rendered speechless.

"You'll only have to play for an hour or so," he finally answered Tom slowly, "then we can get someone else."

Tom nodded, "Good."

"Meet me after dinner tomorrow and we'll sort it out," James continued, gathering himself. "Bring your instruments if you can."

"Okay, will do."

"Right, well, I'll leave you to it then." James took one last look back at Lucy as he left the room.

Once he had left, Lucy felt chagrined.

She wasn't sure why it mattered to James. Sirius had already turned her down – in fact, he had made it abundantly clear he wasn't interested in her in that way. Why was it any of their business who she went with instead?

.o.

Remus took the Restricted Section pass from Madam Pince in the library.

"No funny business," she warned them in a crisp voice. "Get the books you require for your homework and then straight out."

"Naturally," Sirius answered, shooting her a wink as they left her desk.

"Insolence," Pince muttered to herself, but her cheeks were flushed with tell-tale colour.

Once they were in the Restricted Section the boys worked quickly, gathering a pile of books on deflection spells for hiding Sirius's motorcycle so that they could be free to use the invisibility cloak.

Flicking through with expert eyes they isolated the charms that might be of use to them and scribbled them onto a scrap of parchment.

After getting what they had come for, Sirius strolled back to the librarian's desk. He leaned over it, holding out the pass out for her to take.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have beautiful eyes?" he smouldered.

The bird-like Madam Pince narrowed them at him, snatching the pass from his hand. "No," she replied curtly.

"Funny that," Sirius remarked, pushing himself from her desk and walking off.

Remus looked at him and shook his head.

Sirius laughed. "Oh, she loves it. It's the most action she gets all year."

They left the library and made their way through the halls, heading for the stairs back up to the Common Room.

They had just turned into another corridor when James collided with them.

"Prongs," Sirius said, taking in James's oddly shifty expression.

"Where've you been?" Remus asked him slowly.

"I've been to sort out the entertainment for the Yule Ball," James answered, clearly withholding information.

Remus looked back at him, "You haven't run into Snape or something, have you?"

James looked disgusted. " _Snivellus_? He's not worth my time. I told you, I was sorting out the ball."

"So what's the entertainment going to be?" Sirius questioned.

"A school band," James replied carefully.

Sirius looked unimpressed.

"Nah, they're pretty good," James assured him.

"Who's in it?" Remus asked.

"Mike Jones, Phil Matlock -" James listed, pausing before saying the last name, "- and Tom Boswell." He had heard about his friend's disdain for the Gryffindor Beater.

"You're kidding me?" Sirius laughed humourlessly. "He's like hippogriff manure. Gets everywhere."

James paused as if unsure whether to share the next part. "Well, at least we know Hamilton is over whatever she felt about you," he chuckled uncertainly, "because she's his date to the ball."

Remus glanced at Sirius, but his face was hard to read.

"I'm glad," Sirius replied finally.

"You don't look very glad," Remus observed quietly.

"What do you expect, a fanfare?" Sirius demanded, impatience flickering briefly in his eyes.

"At least Tom will keep her busy while we do what we have to do," James observed.

"I've no doubt."

.o.

Tom walked Lucy back to the lake an hour later, just as they had promised Lily.

As they crossed the grounds, Lucy pressed her hand against her ear and moved her jaw around, trying to kick-start her hearing after Tom's deafening band practice.

"Wanna meet up this time next week?" Tom asked her. "We can do something different," he added quickly, aware that her eardrums couldn't take another beating before the ball.

Lucy thought on it a second. "Maybe."

Tom laughed at her answer. "That's what I love about you, your enthusiasm."

She glanced up at him. "Sorry," she muttered.

Her mind was currently more focused on the fact that, as they neared the lake, it was becoming clear Lily was still flocked by the three other girls; Alice, Marion and _Marlene_.

She contemplated making a mad dash for it, but Lily had already spotted them approaching and excused herself, making her way over.

"Here is your precious cargo, returned safe and sound as promised," Tom flourished his hands towards Lucy as if showing off a display.

Lily looked reluctantly placated.

Lucy swept his hands away, "See you later, Tom."

"Next week?" Tom asked hopefully, starting to walk away.

"Erm, what?" Lily demanded.

"Bye Tom," Lucy said again firmly.

Tom seemed to take the hint. "See ya, Luce."

Lucy's insides fluttered. That was the first time he had used her real name.

He gave her a small smile before turning away, his tall body strolling back to the castle to finish his band practice.

When he had gone, Lily turned to her with a quirked eyebrow. "Had a good time I take it?"

"He asked me to the ball," Lucy relayed, her insides giving another unwanted flutter.

Lily looked shocked. "What did you tell him?"

"I said yes," Lucy replied, unable to believe it herself. "As friends."

Lily thought on it a second, weighing it up in her head. "Well, I suppose if you trust him," she said slowly, "that actually might not be such a bad thing."

Lucy looked at her in surprise.

"I'll be caught up in Head Girl duties most of the evening," Lily explained. "It'll be better than having you sat alone during those hours. I just hope that you're right about him."

"Me too," Lucy replied honestly.

"Anyway," Lily continued, "No use worrying about it yet. You can come and meet everyone." She started to lead the way back over to her friends.

"Actually, I was just going to head back to the Dormitory," Lucy said quickly. She pretended to yawn, "I'm feeling kind of tired."

"Lucy, it's one 'o' clock in the afternoon."

Lucy felt the fight leave her body. There was just no way of getting out of it. She was going to have to meet Sirius's ex.

Reaching over, Lily pulled her along towards them, "I won't take no for an answer," she confirmed. "It will do you some good to have some girly company for a change."

.o.

They reached the lakeside, coming to a stop behind the three seated figures. "Girls, this is Lucy Hamilton," Lily called out. "The one I've been telling you about."

The girls stopped chatting instantly, craning their necks to look up at her.

"Hi," Alice greeted cheerfully. "We met in Muggle Studies."

"Lucy...you're from Beauxbatons, aren't you?" the girl Lily had previously pointed out as Marion asked.

Lily gave Lucy a small reluctant nod to play along with it.

"Yeah," she replied uncertainly.

Marion smiled broadly. "I used to study at Beauxbatons!" she exclaimed. "What house were you in?"

There was an awkward silence where Lucy's mouth opened but no sound came out.

"Er, by the way Alice said you were right about the rubber duck being a Muggle bath toy, Lucy!" The words burst from Lily's mouth, trying desperately to change the subject.

"Oh yeah," Alice remembered, "I looked it up in the library. Professor Kramp strikes again!"

Marion looked at her inquisitively, distracted by the new topic of conversation.

"Kramp said rubber ducks were invented to ward off predators from outdoor ponds," Lily explained.

Marion shook her head. "Ah. I sometimes wonder how she manages to keep her job."

"Dunno why you doughnut heads took the class in the first place," Marlene said, getting to her feet and brushing away any leftover remnants of grass from the back of her skirt. She straightened up, flicking back the mass of tight curls that fell around her face. Lucy's breath caught as she came face to face with Sirius's ex-girlfriend.

Marlene pinned her to the spot with eyes that were startlingly light blue.

"Marlene," she introduced herself, placing a tanned hand with brightly painted nails on her chest. Her voice was as strong and self-assured as she looked. "Have you come to join our gang?"

.o.

Lucy was surprised to find that Marlene was not pretty in the conventional sense, as she had imagined, but her piercing blue eyes were the colour of ice and filled with dancing quick wit. Her thick hair framed her face like a lion's mane, her nose strong and aquiline.

She was shorter than Lucy by a couple of inches, but her confident stature made her seem taller somehow.

"Can we go in now?" Marion asked, hugging herself to stave away the growing chill.

"It depends, is Alice finished being at one with nature?" Marlene joked.

Alice looked defeated. "Fine. If you don't appreciate it then there's no point."

"It's not that," Marion tried, "It's just that it's really, really, _really_ cold and if we stay out here any longer we will all turn into icicles."

Marlene gave a laugh.

"Maybe when the sun decides to show its face in the summer we could come back out here and sunbathe on the grass," Lily offered, helping them to pack up their things.

"Now that sounds like a good idea," Marion agreed, picturing the golden warmth already.

"But that won't be for another six months!" Alice cried, her petite features twisting. "What about seeing the frosts in January, or the first leaves of spring?"

Marlene stared at her as if she was talking gibberish, "I'm sure they'll all look gorgeous from the window," she said.

Alice looked at her sourly.

"If you like plants all that much maybe you should work in Herbology?" Lily suggested.

"Oh Merlin, you could be Professor Sprout's sidekick!" Marlene added excitedly. She put on a dramatic film voice:

" ** _Sprout and Prewett in the case of the mysterious Bubotuber_** _._ "

Lucy grinned despite herself, remembering how much Alice's son, Neville, had loved Herbology in the books.

Alice scowled, clearly not appreciating the joke made at her expense.

"Come on," she said, forcing her small arms through Lily and Lucy's and pulling them away. "Some people have no appreciation for the natural world."

"Oh look, you've upset her now," Marlene said, pretending to frown at Marion in disappointment.

"Me?" Marion laughed in shock, "You're the one saying she should be Sprout's sidekick."

Marlene ran to catch up with Alice, placing her hands on her shoulders. "You know I love you really," she cooed, pulling Alice backwards.

Alice harrumphed, but was clearly softening to Marlene's ministrations.

Marion went to walk by Lucy's side. "Who was that we saw you with earlier?" she asked her in an undertone, while the other girls were still pretending to argue.

Lucy looked at her questioningly.

"The black haired boy you were talking with," Marion clarified.

"Oh," Lucy replied, "His name's Tom Boswell."

To her surprise, Marion's face spread into a smile. "Boz?" she said, "I thought it was! How do you know him?"

Before Lucy could even think of a reason that didn't involve telling her that Tom had rescued her from an embarrassing fall through Trick Stair, Marion had called over to Marlene.

"It _was_ Tom we saw Lucy talking to," she said.

Marlene looked across in interest, pausing her friendly teasing of Alice.

"Ooh," she said. "What were you chatting about then?" she asked Lucy, her ice blue eyes flashing with intrigue.

"He's taking her to the Yule Ball," Lily said casually. Lucy shot her look and Lily seemed to realise her mistake belatedly.

"Lucky cow!" Marlene cried loudly, making Lucy cringe. "How did you manage that one? When he plays with that band of his," she pretended to shudder from pleasure, "It gives me tingles."

"Tom's one of the good ones," Marion told her.

"Don't hurt him," Marlene warned Lucy, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye. "Don't you hurt him. He's far too precious for this world."

"I had no idea you two knew him," Lily marvelled at them. "I don't think I'd even seen him around before."

"That's because you only have eyes for James," Marion replied with a smile. "We actually have most of our lessons with him," she explained. "He's always making everyone laugh. It makes History of Magic tolerable."

"Did you hear about him mooning the Muggle Studies teacher?" Marlene piped up with a grin.

"It's not funny, we were in that class," Alice grimaced, gesturing to herself and Lucy. "I thought night time had fallen early."

"Wait, you experienced third-party mooning?" Marlene pretended to be appalled, checking Alice's temperature with her hand, "You should get that looked at."

She turned to Lucy. "So, what was it like?"

Lucy stared at her. "What was what like?" she replied, not quite getting it.

"His bum!" Marlene called.

Marion let out a nervous laugh.

A crooked smile pulled at Lucy's face. "Er," she thought about it for a second. "It was-"

"It was foul," Lily cut in, shoving her tongue out in disgust.


	16. Raw

**Chapter 16**

 **Raw.**

Try as she might, Lucy couldn't remember all that much about Marlene from the books.

She suspected that, as an original member of the Order of the Phoenix, Marlene's fate had not been pleasant, but any further details escaped her.

In contrast, she knew exactly what awaited Alice: A permanent stay in St Mungo's, driven mad from torture.

The peripheral, faceless characters that had perished at the hands of Voldemort in the books were suddenly standing there in front of her. Linking her arms and telling her jokes.

It did not go unnoticed by Lucy that these were yet more people that she could potentially help save if she just chose to open her mouth and warn them.

None of them deserved to die. In any reality.

.o.

The five girls made their way into the Great Hall for evening meal, with Marlene still joking with Alice about her 'unnatural love of nature'.

Lily took a seat and glanced up as Marion, Alice and Marlene went to follow suit.

"Wait, are you sure about this?" she asked them quickly, looking pointedly at Marlene.

Marlene stopped with one leg in the bench and one leg out.

Lily glanced towards the entrance. "Won't it be a bit awkward when the boys get here?"

"You mean because of Sirius?" Marlene laughed. "It's been nearly a year since we broke up, I'm over it."

"Yes, but you know what he can be like," Lily argued.

"So you don't want us to sit with you?" Alice asked in a small voice, the beginnings of hurt starting to show on her face.

"Surely it'll be fine if they do?" Lucy asked, unwilling to bite her tongue any longer.

Much to her own surprise, she was genuinely starting to enjoy their company; it made a nice change to be treated just like anyone else. The girls had no idea she didn't really belong.

Having fresh company was also helping to take her mind off the fact she would have to face Sirius for the first time since he turned her down.

"See, even Lucy wants us and we've only just met!" Marlene cried, swinging her other leg in decisively to sit next to her newfound acquaintance.

She took a hot chip off the platter in front of her and took a bite. "And you call yourself a friend," she exclaimed, throwing the half-bitten potato chunk at Lily.

Lily let the soggy chip flop into her lap before picking it up with disdain, pincering it between her forefinger and thumb and tossing it back on the table.

She looked at Lucy across the table, now sandwiched between Marlene and Marion. "You have no idea of the monster you've just created," she muttered.

.oOo.

"Mission successful," James crowed, slapping his hands across one another in a job well done.

They had performed high-level deflection charms around Sirius's motorcycle, still stored in the Boathouse. They had to be strong enough to replace the protection of the invisibility cloak, but with a little help from the Restricted Section their spells were more than up to the task. James had even taken the precaution of adding a few of the nastier hexes to the mix should anyone wish to try their luck.

Thanks to their effort, the cloak was now free to use in Remus's full moon escape from the castle during the hubbub of the Yule Ball.

"I won't sleep soundly until that Ball is out of the way," Remus sighed as they made their way into their bedroom.

James clapped him on the back. "Cheer up, old boy. We'll get through it. We always do."

"Hope Bertha will be alright," Sirius murmured, stashing the cloak into the chest at the bottom of his bed and casting locking charms.

James glanced over at him. "I swear you love that bike more than any person."

Sirius looked like he couldn't see what was wrong with that.

Stood waiting in the doorway, Peter's face suddenly twisted in dismay, a deep and bloodcurdling panic setting in as a thought occurred to him.

"What- what is it?" Sirius demanded, immediately concerned for his bike. He was sure they hadn't forgotten anything.

"We're missing dinner!" Peter cried out.

All four boys looked at one another for a second as the true horror of the situation set in.

Uttering a few choice words, they dashed from the room.

It was the last food they would get until the next morning – an impossible length of time for them to have to wait between meals.

Racing down the stairs to the Great Hall, James was the first to haul open the door.

.oOo.

Still seated at the table, Marlene and Marion had started to regale Lucy with tales of the Marauders' many pranks over the years.

It turned out they had all been pretty close until Sirius and Marlene's decision to take their friendship to the next level in sixth year, around the same time that Lily had first given James a chance and joined their group.

Whereas James and Lily were still going strong, the tempestuously fickle Marlene and Sirius had parted ways after just six weeks. And far from being amicable, it had left them divided into two separate groups ever since.

Nowadays Lily spent more time with the boys, which, Lucy came to realise, was likely why she had managed to never cross paths with the others before.

Marlene grinned, oblivious, "Oh yeah, and there was that time in fifth year that James used Polyjuice to transform into Madam Pince, and then snuck behind the real one while she was giving Sirius a bollocking-"

"And Pince started having an argument with herself," Marion finished with a laugh.

"Didn't James end up transforming back into himself halfway back to the Dormitory?" Alice wondered.

"Oh Merlin, yes," Marlene said, tears of joy in her eyes. "I will never forget the sight of James's hairy legs stuffed into those old lady tights running through the Common Room."

Lucy burst into laughter as the image of James dressed in the librarian's clothes darted across her mind.

Marlene began to do an impression of his fearful gurning as he tried to run in unfamiliar heels, waving her arms around like a windmill.

Lucy felt her cheeks start to hurt from laughing. She pressed her hands to the sides of her face, trying to calm herself down.

"James!" Lily called.

Lucy's head shot around, the smile wiped immediately from her face. She hadn't noticed the boys' approach.

Her eyes landed on Sirius as he halted at the side of the table, looking between her and Marlene. His normally impassive face was frozen in disbelief.

Marlene stared back at her ex-boyfriend, her expression still holding the remnants of the joke she had made.

"Sirius," she purred, her lips curling upwards. "Long time, no speak."

.o.

Marlene looked smug, clearly enjoying the discomfit that had faltered on Sirius's face before he had chance to recover himself.

"Marlene," he greeted tersely, looking away from her and taking a seat next to James.

In all of the funny stories that had been shared about the Marauders, Lucy had almost forgotten that he and Marlene had once been unimaginably close.

As Sirius filled his goblet and the boys settled in, Lucy was surprised to find Marlene's arm make its way around her shoulder.

"I was just telling Lucy here about some of the stuff you've got up to over the years," Marlene said, her light blue eyes focused on her ex.

Without deigning to reply or make eye contact, Sirius placed his goblet back down and leaned forward to look around James at Lily.

"Are you responsible for this?" he asked her.

Lily pressed her lips together, keeping her focus on her food.

Marlene laughed now, happy to be getting some kind of reaction from him. "Aw, Sirius, don't act like you haven't missed me," she said, letting her arm fall away.

Sirius locked eyes with her, taking her visibly off-guard.

"Acting isn't necessary," he replied in a low voice.

"So ...why were you so late, anyway?" Lily enquired brightly, clearly trying to diffuse the situation.

"We were caught up with Bertha," James answered, grateful for the topic change. "It's all sorted now."

Recognising the codename Bertha, Lucy's ears pricked, wondering just what they had been doing with Sirius's motorcycle. She wasn't able to ponder on it for long, however, thanks to Marlene's next exclamation.

"It's Boz!"

"Oh honestly, can this get any worse?" Lily lamented to herself, sensing the situation spiralling out of her control.

Sure enough, Tom Boswell was sat just a few feet away, further up the table with his friends. At the sound of his name, he looked over and gave Marlene a salute. Noticing Lucy sat next to her, his grin broadened.

"Alright, Luce?" he called over, shooting her a wink.

"Lucky cow," Marlene repeated with a laugh. "Still can't believe he's taking you to the Ball."

This time Sirius did not return Lucy's panicked gaze, neither did he seem surprised. James had obviously already told him.

"We still on for meeting after dinner?" Tom called across, addressing James.

James gave him a thumbs up and Tom went back to his dinner.

Noticing Lily's questioning glance, James quickly added, "Sorry, I forgot to tell you, I've asked him to meet with us about his band performing at the ball."

She looked back at him dubiously.

"Hex Pistols are playing at the Ball?" Marion asked, surprised. "Isn't their music a bit…" she paused, trying to think of the best word for the noisy swearing that constituted most of the Hex Pistols songs, " _raw_?" she finished diplomatically.

"Thought it would make a change to the school choir we normally have to put up with," James shrugged. "Shake it up a bit."

"It will definitely do that," Alice replied.

"Well I for one can't wait. Boswell's so sexy when he's onstage," Marlene swooned, biting her lip.

"For Merlin's sake, go and take a cold shower," Sirius's voice cut through the general chit chat of the group like a knife.

.o.

They all stopped and looked over at him.

Instead of being rebuked, yet again Marlene seemed almost pleased by his outburst.

"Are you offering to scratch my itch?" she asked him with a lascivious smirk, either not noticing, or not caring, that Sirius was not smiling.

When he looked back at her in disgust, Marlene pretended to pout, "But you used to be so good at it. Remember that time behind the one-eyed witch-?"

"Can we all just stop talking and eat our dinner before it leaves the table?" Remus interjected, his fork hovering mid-way to his mouth.

"Yes please do," Alice agreed. "Let's just all eat in peace."

"You never used to be this boring," Marlene accused Sirius, with no intention of being quiet. "Come to the ball with me. I'll teach you how to start having some fun again."

James snorted. "He already turned Hamilton down, what makes you think you stand a chance?"

Lucy's heart thudded in her chest.

Marlene, Alice and Marion all looked at her, confused. "I thought you were going with Tom?" Marlene stated.

"Tom asked me after Sirius said no," Lucy explained in a low, steady voice, "we're going as friends."

A loaded silence seemed to follow her words.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw both James and Sirius's focus land on her.

"Going as friends?" James repeated.

"Why shouldn't we?" she demanded of him, sick of the attention her non-existent relationship was getting.

"No, it's a good idea," Marion agreed. "There you go then, Marlene. Tom is still a free man."

Sirius's eyes still hadn't left Lucy.

"Why did you turn Lucy down?" Alice asked him curiously.

"None of your business," James replied on reflex.

"What are you, his bodyguard?" Marlene scoffed. "Tell us, what's wrong with Lucy, Sirius?" she pressed in a sing-song voice, knowing now that it was a loaded question.

Without warning, Sirius dropped his cutlery to the table and extricated himself in one swift movement.

"At least now I remember how intolerable you can be, Marlene," he said. "Thanks for the reminder."

As he walked away from them out of the Great Hall, Marlene remained unabashed.

"Reckon he's done with that?" she asked, gesturing hopefully over at his still-full plate.

Lucy sat stock still, trying to make sense of what had just happened; James had immediately come to his friend's defense at the mere mention of her.

An unspeakable question started to worm its way into her mind.

 _Had Sirius really not wanted to go with her, or had he been warned away?_

Either way, it seemed like she no longer had anything to lose. She had already been rejected by the one person whose opinion mattered to her most.

With the Yule Ball looming, she knew that there would be no better moment to make her confession. It was time for her to tell them exactly what she knew about their future and let them decide for themselves whether they chose to believe her.


	17. The Yule Ball, Part 1

**A/N: Thanks for those who take the time to review, I appreciate it.**

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

 **The Yule Ball, Part One.  
**

With Lucy secure in another hour's worth of wand practice with McGonagall, Lily and the Marauders were left to discuss the Yule Ball, now less than 24 hours away. Remus needed to be safely away from any celebrations going on in the castle before the full moon could make its transformation of his body.

They had moved to a quiet corner of the library, away from prying eyes or ears, to finalise a plan of action to avoid a disaster of lupine proportions.

"How about a taking a secret passageway to get out of the castle?" Peter tried. "Doesn't the statue of Gregory the Smarmy lead right out onto the grounds? Maybe we could open it while we're underneath the invisibility cloak and get out that way."

"And you don't think a huge stone statue grinding aside all on its own will look in the least bit suspicious?" Sirius asked with lessening patience.

"There will be too many people around," Remus agreed, rubbing the heel of his hand into his tired eyes. "We can't chance anyone spotting us entering a secret passage and following us down there."

James's fingers paused in their drumming on the table. "Don't s'pose we could just not turn up to the ball at all?" he started carefully. "Get out of the castle before it even starts and wait it out in the Shrieking Shack."

"You're Head Boy," Lily replied. "You have no choice but to be there, at least in the beginning. Besides, if all four of you completely miss it, you can bet your last sickle that someone will notice and rat you out. Pardon the expression," she added to Peter.

Peter gave an unaffected shrug.

"Right, so no statues, no portraits and no complete abstaining," Sirius listed off. "We're back to where we started; a grandiose exit." The idea seemed to please him, an excitable light growing behind his eyes.

"By grandiose exit, you of course mean a diversion?" Lily corrected him.

"Of course," Sirius replied, not sounding like he had meant that at all.

"Unfortunately it would seem we have no choice," Remus muttered reluctantly. Unlike Sirius he could not be enthused by the need to make a song and dance of his transformation.

"Lucky we found that Power Pull spell in the library, eh?" Sirius grinned, beginning to look forward to the theatrical nature of what they were going to attempt.

"Isn't it just?" Remus replied wryly.

"I can probably manage around two minutes of power cut before my magic will tire," Lily told them, "so you all need to be away from the castle by then."

The four boys gave their acknowledgement.

"If we had the Marauder's Map we'd be in an even better position," James said with a hint of regret. "Avoid running into any stragglers on the grounds."

"Thanks to the slimeball squib sticking his nose where it doesn't belong, we don't have that luxury." Sirius was still bitter that Filch had their prized invention.

"I could go on ahead and check the coast is clear, then run back to warn you," Peter offered uncertainly, his rat Animagus ideal for scampering around unnoticed.

"Brilliant thinking, Wormtail," James agreed.

"If we all keep a clear head, it will be fine," Lily said, trying to reassure herself as much as anyone else.

.oOo.

"I have just under fifteen minutes before I have to leave for Head Girl's duties," Lily called to Lucy from her bedroom the following evening.

Lucy shuffled out of the bathroom with the dark red ball gown they had purchased from Madame Mina's held ungracefully up.

"Here, I'll do it," Lily offered.

Lucy turned around and let her zip the gaping back of her dress up. "Starting to wish you didn't have to leave."

Lily heaved the hook and eye catch closed at the top and chuckled. "Oh really? I would have thought you'd be glad to have a break from me for the night."

In the beginning Lucy _had_ been glad of it - it was tough going spending nearly every waking hour with someone, particularly when they were technically in charge of every move you made. But now another thought had begun to cross her mind, even more scary than the prospect of being continually bossed around by Lily.

"I don't know whether I should have agreed to go with Tom," Lucy said, turning back to Lily and smoothing her dress down.

"I thought you were just going as friends?"

"Yeah that's what I'm worried about. What if he tries something anyway? The more I think about it the more I think this was a massive mistake."

"Well, if Marlene and Marion are anything to go by, Tom is a saint," Lily replied simply.

She crouched to have one last check of her reflection in her dressing table mirror. "Besides," she added, "you said yourself that Dumbledore trusted him. 'Safe as houses', remember?"

Lucy tried to work out if she was being sarcastic, but the redhead caught her eye in the mirror and gave her an amused smile. "I'm sure you have nothing to worry about," Lily reassured her seriously. "Anyway, it's not like I'm leaving the castle. If you need me I'll be there." She added a few more pins to her tousled up-do and straightened up.

"You look really good," Lucy said, looking at the way the sapphire blue dress complimented her colouring.

"Thanks," Lily said brightly. She clapped her hands together, "Now, need anything before I leave?"

Lucy gestured to the mess of hair on her head, swept around by her frantic dressing. "Got time to sort this out?"

.o.

Half an hour later, Lucy sat alone at Lily's dressing table, guiding her smoothed hair upwards and pulling it high and sleek on top of her head into a ponytail.

Lily had already given her a hand in straightening out her usual waves using something called 'Sleekeazy', a magical hair potion that had apparently been invented by James's own father, Fleamont Potter.

Lily had managed to build up quite a stock of it in birthday and Christmas presents from the Potters'.

Of course, that was before James's parents had realised she was a redhead. For reasons that Lily had found out the hard way, Sleekeazy was not recommended for her particular hair colour. 'Unique Results' didn't even begin to cover it.

Lucy secured her hair in place with a borrowed hair tie and wrapped a fine section of it around the black elastic to disguise it. She flicked her long, straightened ponytail over her bare shoulders.

It shimmered down her back like a trail of liquid gold. " _Thank you, Father Potter_ ," she muttered to herself.

Her shoes were still tucked away in their box under the bed.

She kicked at the skirt of her dress, sending the high split in the fabric rippling away from her leg so she could get up without treading on it.

Extracting her heels from the box, she coaxed her feet inside their unyielding clutches.

She gave what was supposed to be a soothing breath and got up, giving one last tug at the top of her strapless dress before opening the door to the stairs and heading down into the Common Room. It felt like her heart was going to hammer its way out of her ribcage.

Her ponytail swished against her back like a pendulum as she stepped carefully off the last step.

A few leftover students were still milling around in the Common Room, biding their time before heading down to the festivities of the Great Hall. One couple had interlocked in a passionate embrace against the wall near the portrait hole until it was impossible to tell where one of them ended and the other one began.

To their immediate left, Lucy spotted a familiar figure standing next to the exit and felt her heart give another skitter.

Tom was waiting for her.

He hadn't spotted her yet. He had his hands pushed into the pockets of his trousers and was peering down at his shiny dress shoes, shuffling on the spot. She took the opportunity to look over at him properly.

She had never seen him look so… put together. He always seemed a little dishevelled, like he had just thrown on the first thing in his wardrobe. This had quite clearly not been the case this evening. His usual wild, angled hair contrasted becomingly against the pristine black suit and tie that covered his tall, lean body, perfect for his role as bass player in the band.

She knew by now that Tom always seemed to somehow maintain an easy confidence in any situation, but there was something different about him tonight. It was almost as if he was _nervous_.

She licked her dry lips, trying to hold herself tall as she walked over to him. The click clacking of her heels heralded her arrival before she had a chance to speak.

He looked up, his dark eyes moving slowly up her body from her noisy shoes until they reached her face. The usual lopsided grin she had been expecting from him did not come.

"Lucy," he said, his voice just above a whisper. He threw his hands from his pockets and straightened up quickly, stepping towards her.

"You look-" his eyes wandered over her, "amazing." His voice came out strained.

She was annoyed to find that her pulse thrummed at his reaction. She tried not to notice how handsome he looked in his crisp, white shirt.

Tom reached for the portrait door and pulled it open, holding it for her to go through first.

She felt his eyes fixed on her as she passed him. She released a staggered breath; they were really doing this.

He took a while to catch up and she glanced back to see what was taking so long. Tom was still a foot behind her. He flicked his gaze up to her face quickly, biting his lip.

Lucy shot him a look and he looked apologetic, but a gentle smile pulled at his face all the same.

"Sorry. It's just. Wow… You look really good," he said finally, falling into step beside her. She felt his hand graze the small of her back tentatively, leading her down the corridor towards the Grand Staircase.

"What time do you go on stage?" she asked as they descended the steps.

"Technically I should be there tuning up now," Tom admitted.

"What?" Lucy replied in surprise. "So why aren't you?"

Tom looked sheepish. "I wanted to be there to walk you into the Ball."

Lucy blinked up at him. This was definitely a mistake.

He should have taken someone who wanted his attention, like Marlene or Marion. He deserved that. He shouldn't have wasted himself on someone who wanted nothing but friendship.

She wondered if he had believed her when she told him that it was all she wanted.

"I've saved you a seat at the side of the stage in case you want to sit up there with us," he told her. "It's hidden behind a decoration," he added quickly, "so no one would be able to see you."

Lucy looked doubtful. "Is it near a speaker?"

Tom finally shot her his familiar lopsided grin. He knew that his music had left her ears ringing for days the last time she had listened to his band play.

"No," he confirmed. "It's there if you want it."

They reached the open doors to the Great Hall and Lucy felt her jaw drop.

"Wow," she murmured, gazing around at the Christmas decorations that had transformed the hall.

The long dining tables that usually filled the hall had been moved out, and were replaced with sporadic clusters of seating lining the walls. A large area abutting the front the stage had been left clear for a dancefloor.

Bright blue pixies held silver and gold sashes along the length of the night-sky ceiling. Their tiny bodies were suspended into graceful positions as though they had been encased in amber, with only the fluttering of their wings to reveal that they were real.

A magnificent Christmas tree had been erected in the corner of the room, covered in edible Yule themed treats from Honeydukes. It was decorated with four fine strips of gauzy fabric, spaced out evenly down the tree; one for each of the school Houses. The Gryffindor one lay at the bottom, the red and gold stitching shining over at her.

Real snow lay in affected mounds around the room, each with their own snow cloud hovering above them.

"I saw it earlier," Tom admitted, smiling at her reaction.

"I've never seen anything like this."

"What school did you say you went to before?" Tom asked, his expression suddenly curious. He had never thought to ask before.

Lucy's eyes darted to his. "Beauxbatons," she said on reflex.

Tom seemed unconvinced.

"My parents travelled to Europe with my dad's work," she lied.

"Okay," he said. She couldn't tell if he was humouring her.

Loud laughter from behind them made them both turn around. Lucy recognised that laugh. Marlene's jovial face turned towards them as she walked in. "Lucy!"

Marlene turned to Marion stood next to her, "Go on ahead, I'll be over in a sec," she told her. Marion led her date, Andrew Evans, away to the seating area.

Marlene's bright blue eyes landed on Tom. A wide seductive smile grew quickly on her face.

"Hello, Thomas," she purred in her usual flirtatious way.

"Alright, Marlene?" he greeted her like he would any of his friends. Only the tinge of amusement on his face betrayed the fact that he was well-aware of what she was doing.

"Hope you'll save a dance for me later," she said, stepping forward and wrapping her fingers around his tie. She gave it a gentle tug.

Tom laughed now, extracting it from her hand. "I'll see what I can do."

Marlene flashed him a smile, "Look forward to it." She shot Lucy a wink and was gone.

"I take she knows we've come as mates?" Tom asked, one eyebrow raised.

Lucy smirked, feeling embarrassed that she had just had to bear witness to all that. "Yes," she replied simply.

"Boz!" The guitarist on stage shouted down to him.

"I'll be there in a second!" Tom called back. "I've got to get on stage," he told her, eyeing the ever-growing groups of students entering the hall.

He seemed reluctant to leave her.

"I'll meet up with you afterwards?" he asked, his expression uncertain and hopeful.

"Of course."

Relief washed over his face. "Good, because I need someone to save me from Marlene. She scares the life out of me." Despite the joke there was a spark of real trepidation in his voice.

It made Lucy laugh, and Tom's eyes crinkled at the sides as he looked down at her.

"Tom!" The guitarist shouted down to him again, his impatience growing. "When you've finished flirting can you get your arse up here? We're due to start."

A few people in their vicinity laughed.

Tom grinned amiably, "Okay, okay." He turned to Lucy, leaning down and brushing his lips against her cheek in a peck. Without giving her a chance to react, he turned his back on her and quickly climbed the steps up onto the stage.

.o.

Sirius leaned against the wall of the Great Hall with his arms folded.

It felt like time itself had stopped. They would only spend forty minutes in total at the ball to avoid arousing suspicion, but each one that passed felt like it stretched into an hour. He could barely stand the inactivity.

His dress shoe cladded foot tapped impatiently against the stone floor. It seemed ridiculous to him that they were forced to get all dressed up just for show.

Though his eyes roved lazily over the students filtering into the hall in their finest dress, his mind raced, going persistently over their planned route out of the castle and what action he would take should they run into anyone.

A simple Petrificus Totalus should do the trick to get them to back off, providing the person hadn't seen anything they shouldn't. If they had, then he would have no choice but to Oblivate them.

His focus landed on Peter's familiar face as his friend made a brave attempt to navigate the growing groups of people back to him with four punch filled cups cradled in his arms.

At the same time, Remus headed towards them from the opposite direction. Despite Lily's best efforts to convince him he needed to blend in with the party goers, Remus had not bothered to dress up. He wore an old woollen jumper with a dark grey shirt collar poking out at the top and shapeless brown trousers. His face was already set with submission about the approaching events of the night.

"When do you think Prongs will be here?" Peter asked as the two boys came to a standstill next to Sirius. Sirius took one of the cups from his hand, nearly sending the rest of them toppling over.

"When he's finished his Head Boy duties," Remus replied, sure that they had been over this.

Sirius downed his punch in one go. "Merlin, I wish I'd remembered to spike it," he growled.

As if on cue, a head of messy hair jogged through the students towards them.

"Sorry, I couldn't get away," James panted as he reached their side, looking apologetically to Remus. "Slughorn used most of the meeting to brag to Lily about the next Slug Club soiree. Everyone was stuck listening to the great gas bag."

"It's fine," Remus replied quietly.

"We have a bit of time left yet," Sirius said. "Here, have a drink." He grabbed another two cups unceremoniously from Peter's hands and held them out to his friends.

Remus turned it away, so James took them both.

He took a long gulp of one. "Should have spiked it," he lamented, unknowingly echoing Sirius.

"Where's Lily?" Remus asked.

"I think Slug might've collared her again on the way out," James said, starting on the second cup. "I didn't have time to hang around and find out."

A catchy beat started to fill the hall and the boys' looked over to the stage. Tom and the Hex Pistols had started their set.

Sirius held back a sneer. There was something about Tom that grated on him like nails down a chalkboard.

"Lucy's on her own," James commented, taking a final swig from his cups and pointing out the blonde sat at the side of the room away from the stage. She seemed to be inspecting one of her shoes.

Sirius didn't respond, keeping his gaze trained ahead.

"Where's she going?" Peter frowned, standing on tiptoes in an attempt to see.

This time Sirius's eyes flicked over to see. Due to his height he did not need to make an effort.

They watched as she walked to the doors of the Great Hall and disappeared out into the Entrance Hall.

James glanced at Sirius. They would be heading out there soon with Remus in tow. The last thing they needed was to run into her.

Sirius didn't even turn to face him, his arms still crossed casually across his chest. "I don't know why you're looking at me," he stated. "Your girlfriend forbade all contact with her, if you remember."

"Padfoot…" James said reproachfully.

Sirius clenched his jaw. Without saying a word, he pushed himself off the wall and walked towards the large double doors out of the hall, following in Lucy's footsteps.

James turned back to Remus. "He'll bring her back," he reassured him. "We'll be out of here in no time."

.o.

Lucy hobbled through the corridor, heading for the Hospital Wing. The back of her shoes had already rubbed a raw hole in her ankle. If she was to have any hope of lasting the rest of the evening she would need some kind of plaster.

Even though it seemed overzealous, the Hospital Wing was the only place she could think of in Hogwarts that might have some kind of protective cover she could use on her foot.

Finally reaching the entrance to the sterile Wing, she stepped cautiously inside. It was completely empty. There was no sign of the nurse Madam Pomfrey anywhere.

Making her way further into the room, she passed six tightly made beds to check in the adjacent room. That was empty too. She suddenly wondered if plasters weren't more of a Muggle thing anyway.

"Lucy."

She halted at the sound of Sirius's voice behind her.


	18. The Yule Ball, Part 2

**Chapter 18**

 **The Yule Ball, Part Two.**

Lucy turned to find Sirius standing in the doorway of the Hospital Wing.

She felt her breath stall in her lungs; he looked more handsome than she had ever seen him, dressed in a fitted black suit and untucked white shirt, with his long hair falling around the perfect angles of his face.

He had already told her that he would be at the Ball, he had not lied. And yet part of her had held on to the idea that perhaps the Marauders had something planned – a concrete reason why he could not have accepted her as his date. But now here he was, all dressed up.

His eyes moved down the length of her body and back up to her face. "What are you doing?"

"I needed a bandage for my ankle." Her voice sounded oddly firm in the quietness of the room. "My shoes-"

A trace of amusement fleeted briefly on his face before he contained it, returning to a practised look of disinterest. "You don't need to see Pomfrey for that."

Stepping into the room, he made the short walk over to her. As he got closer she could smell the intoxicating headiness of his cologne, mixed with an unexpected scent that reminded her of the outdoors.

He came to a stop in front of her, positioned closer to eye level than usual thanks to the added height of her heels. She tried to calm her unsteady heartbeat as she watched him drop slowly down her body. He reached to grasp the back of her calf.

The heat from his hand burnt into her skin like a branding.

As he raised her leg to access her ankle, the long split of her skirt fell aside. His eyes lingered briefly on the revealed expanse of bare flesh of her thigh, but in an instant had moved to pay expert attention to her injured heel, murmuring a protective charm. With one leg off the floor she was forced her to steady herself on his shoulders. It wasn't long before she felt the pain and pressure on her ankle ease.

Letting the hand holding up her calf slide down to her foot, he released it back to the floor.

"Thanks," she said, trying to control her voice.

"You're welcome." His voice sounded different, deeper. His face was close enough to be able to pick out the different shades of grey in his eyes.

They stood in front of one another, the silence rolling out between them.

"I have to go." She broke away from his stare. "I promised Tom I'd be there when he gets off stage."

Sirius's face hardened. "I thought you were going as friends."

"We are." Lucy heard the faintly defensive tone in her reply. "That doesn't mean I want to just leave him." She released a breath. "Thanks again for the help. I'll see you around."

Turning away from him, she found herself able to walk tall again thanks to his magic. She got to the last set of beds before the exit.

"Wait." It was more like a command than a request.

She turned around, feeling her patience ebb.

"I wanted to speak to you." His voice was frustratingly calm.

She could already guess why he wanted to talk to her, to explain the reasons for his rejection, how it could never happen between them; they were from different worlds, she wouldn't be around for much longer, he just didn't see her in that way. "I don't need to hear it."

He moved forwards a step, his cool temperament flaring momentarily. "You can't begin to understand. You feel rejected because I couldn't be your date to this ridiculous ball? It wasn't -isn't- possible."

She stood stock still for a second. "Okay." She didn't need or want to hear any more.

Exasperated, he let his arms drop to his sides, studying her for a long moment. "Fine."

She went to turn back around to leave, but before she could his long legs had closed the distance between them.

She felt his hands grab her waist firmly and his body collide with hers on impact.

.o.

At that moment it was impossible to make logical sense of what was happening, all she could think about was the feeling of Sirius's lips on hers, the warm textures of his mouth and the way he tasted on her tongue.

There was nothing fictional about it.

He dropped his possessive hand from her head and let it slide down over her shoulder as he released her from the kiss. She opened her unfocused eyes briefly to find his swollen lips still so close to hers.

Keeping her eyes shut, she felt his lips brush against hers again less insistent this time, taking the time to feel her move under him.

She felt like she would dissolve into nothingness if he didn't stop. Nothing could feel like this without consequences.

"Can I help you?" Madam Pomfrey's brusque voice made them both start and break away in an instant. They had not heard her come in.

Sirius cleared his throat, gathering himself expertly. "She came to see you about an injury," he told Pomfrey, his voice knee-trembling deep. "I've already tended to it."

Pomfrey raised her eyebrows. "I'm sure you have," she said dryly, giving Lucy a reproachful look. "Since you no longer require my help, would you mind not continuing to take up space in my Hospital Wing?"

Pomfrey slammed the door closed behind them.

They stopped just outside and Lucy turned to face him, finding it impossible to make eye contact. It was hard to believe what had just happened. After all of his apparent disinterest and avoidance of her, she wasn't sure that she hadn't just imagined the whole thing.

"I've wanted to do that since the first time I saw you."

Her eyes flicked up to his, unable to believe what he was saying. He took a step towards her as if to carry on what they had started.

Just like before, she couldn't feel anything except the instant gratification of the re-established contact, his hands resting on the sides of her hips. He had the ability to make her forget anything that wasn't his body pressed firm against hers.

But when his face was just inches away, he stopped suddenly.

She opened her eyes to see what was going on. Sirius's focus had moved to one side, his gaze suddenly alert as if focusing on something in the distance along the corridor.

"We have to get back to the hall," he stated abruptly, taking a step back.

Lucy tried to re-focus her vision, unable to keep up. "What - Is everything okay?"

Without giving her a response, he reached for her hand and forced her into movement, pulling her along with him as he headed back in the direction of the Great Hall. Her heels clattered on the hard floor. "What's going on?" she breathed from exertion, but Sirius did not answer.

Once they reached the vicinity of the ball, he finally slowed his pace to a controlled walk. Students were dotted around the Entrance Hall, chatting in their groups. A few of them looked in their direction as they passed, eyeing their linked hands with mixed reactions. It was common knowledge that Sirius did not have a date to the ball. He had immediately shut down any girl that had been brave enough to ask.

Apparently not noticing the ripple of gossip he was creating, he pushed the door to the Great Hall open and waited for Lucy to step in before he followed, still holding onto her.

When they stepped in together, a few girls Lucy recognised as Gryffindors stopped talking immediately to look their way. She spotted Mary Macdonald standing amongst them, staring openly over at them.

Refusing to acknowledge it, Lucy gave a gentle tug on Sirius's firmly clasped hand to get his attention. "Hey," she called quietly. His head darted around to look at her.

"What's going on?" she asked him for a second time, more firmly this time.

His eyes were different somehow, animalistic and sharp, it made her pulse throb out an extra beat.

Without warning, all the lights in the hall went out, plunging them into immediate darkness, the background melody from the Hex Pistols music halting as if someone had pressed the pause button.

As if waiting for the distraction, the previous dry warmth of Sirius's hand fell away and Lucy was left all alone in the blackness.

A shot of fear coursed through her as she realised she was being pulled home.

.o.

It was only when the confused mumbling of the students started up that she realised she was still very much at Hogwarts.

"What happened to the lights?" Someone asked.

"Look at the ceiling – the sky is pitch black."

"The candles have gone out."

"The music's gone too."

"What happened to the band?"

A nearby student's voice said 'Lumos', but no wand tip lit up in response.

"Lumos," they hissed again, more insistent this time, but again they were greeted with the endless darkness.

It was as if all of the magical electricity, or whatever the unseen power source was in this world, had been sucked from the room.

Someone close to her let out an ear piercing scream.

The hairs on the back of Lucy's neck and arms prickled as she felt something brush against her side. She had to stop herself from releasing a strangled cry. Whatever it was had felt big, much bigger than a human, as though a giant had crouched past her feet.

It was gone almost instantly, leaving behind just a faint breeze and a strangely familiar scent.

"Everyone remain calm," McGonagall's command pierced through the darkness. At once, the growing rumble of panicked and excited voices quietened. "The situation is under control."

.o.

"Electricus Carpe Retractum," Lily's voice had been barely audible over the sound of the music and general joviality of the Ball.

She clutched her wand firmly, concealed within her robes.

James had given her the signal. They had seen Sirius finally re-enter the room. They had to leave now, before it was too late.

Straining her mind like a muscle, Lily forced it to full concentration in the darkness of her creation. Nobody must see the boys leave the room. After they had moved Remus from the castle, people would be more preoccupied with what had happened in the Great Hall to notice they had gone.

She just needed to keep her focus until they were safely on the grounds; their subsequent movements would be shielded by the darkness of the evening.

Lily knew that they would be under the invisibility cloak by now, manoeuvring their way out of the Hall following Padfoot's keen eyesight.

Her wand gave a rebellious twitch as it fought against the murmurs of 'Lumos' coming from frightened students in the crowd. She was only too aware that once the teachers realised what was happening, her time in control would be limited. She did not have the power to fight against experienced magic.

Another shudder vibrated through her wand. Her magic was becoming weaker with exertion.

She faintly heard McGonagall's sharp voice ordering everyone to calm down.

Another moment later and the control had been wrested from her as light was returned to the room.

There was an instant bustle as people looked around to see what had happened. Lily released her wand immediately and feigned innocence, looking around with the other students.

She took the opportunity to check whether James and his friends had managed their escape, heartened to by the fact she could not see them.

.o.

Lucy squinted as the light burst violently back into the room.

The speakers from the band on stage let out a scuffling noise of interference as their power source returned.

McGonagall was stood at the head of the stage. She walked briskly over to Tom and his bandmates, "Resume your music," she told them, wanting to return normality to the hall as quickly as possible. With that she swept from the stage.

Lucy looked around her. There was no doubt about it, Sirius was gone.

Left alone near the entrance of the hall, she ordered herself to stay calm. She would go and wait for Tom to finish his set, as she had originally intended. This had to have something to do with the Marauders.

Just as she went to move towards the stage a scathing voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Aww, has Sirius ditched you?"

She turned around to find Mary laughing with her friends. They were talking to her.

"He probably had to force the lights off just to get rid of her," a brown haired friend of Mary's sneered, causing another ripple of laughter to filter through her group. Lucy recognised the girl from her Transfiguration class, Meg Hancock.

"It's sweet you thought you meant something to him though," Meg continued, talking directly to her now.

"Sirius is one of the most brilliant wizards in the school." Mary's irritation was showing through her mocking. "He could have _any_ girl he wanted. How could he possibly be interested in someone with the magical IQ of a first year?"

The words hit Lucy like a slap.

Mary's lips curled with satisfaction, noticing the way her abuse had finally hit a nerve. "Yeah, we know all about your little 'Remediation Lessons with McGonagall," her eyes flashed venomously. "In fact, I think everyone knows about them. I wonder what Sirius must make of it."

Mary and her friends laughed derisively again.

Lucy looked around at the crowds surrounding her. More people had started listening to Mary's speech.

Without a word she walked away from them all – she had to get out of the hall, she wasn't going to hang around to listen to this. People parted for her with looks of pity, disgust and confusion.

As she passed into the Entrance Hall she saw a hand reach out to her. She glanced up to see Marion's concerned face. "Lucy, are you okay?"

Fearing the tumult of emotion should she stop, Lucy walked briskly past her muttering, "It's fine."

Once she was sure she was safely away from any prying eyes she started to run.

She didn't need this. She didn't need any of it. Hogwarts was supposed to be somewhere she had escaped to, not somewhere where she increasingly felt out of place, and now openly _ridiculed_. The butt of a joke.

Rushing up the Grand Staircase, her long dress caught on one of her heels, tearing a hole in the bottom of the fabric. With an impatient hand she pulled them both off and sent them clattering down one flight of stairs.

If she was right, and the power cut in the hall did have something to do with Sirius, then he had knowingly left her, even after what had happened between them, not trusting her enough to tell her the truth of the situation. Regardless of how close she thought she got to him he would always pull away from her, she knew that now.

This was all she would ever be allowed; small snippets into his life, never allowed the full story.

The ironic thing was, thanks to the books she likely knew the full story already.

The sight of the familiar Gryffindor Common Room finally came into view up ahead. She called the password to the Fat Lady, who was busy admiring herself in an ornate hand mirror.

"The rudeness of it!" the portrait cried, annoyed at the interruption to her preening and dropping the mirror to her side. Still, the door swung open.

The sound of racing footsteps behind her made Lucy stumble forwards through the doorway, turning around just in time to see the portrait shut in Tom's face.

"Luc-" his voice was cut off.

A rush of panic gripped her. Tom was the last person she wanted to face, especially if he had heard what Mary had just said.

Making a quick dash away from the door, she tried to get to Lily's Dormitory before he had the chance to give the password. She had just reached the other side of the empty Common Room when she heard the portrait door swing open and closed.

"Luce."

She felt her shoulders slump in defeat at the sound of Tom's voice.

She turned around as he made his way over to her, his brow furrowed. "You promised to wait for me."

He had rid himself of the restrictive black dress coat, left with just a white shirt and loosened tie.

Lucy couldn't meet his eyes, still feeling the furious shame of Mary's rant.

"Macdonald talks out of her backside, everyone knows that," he said, revealing that he had heard everything.

"It's true what she was saying," Lucy shot back.

Tom seemed confused. "About Black-?"

She shook her head. "No. I mean, I don't know. Maybe. I meant the lessons with McGonagall."

Tom released a breath through his nose. "So what?" he demanded. "You're not a magical academic. That doesn't make you an idiot. Mary's just sore because it's obvious Black cares about you when he hates her guts."

Lucy shook her head.

"If he cares that much about me, where is he? Why is it you here and not him?"

Tom looked helpless. "I can't answer for him, Lucy. And I couldn't just carry on onstage when my date was upset." He tried to smile.

Lucy looked away.

Tom took a step towards her, tilting her face up towards him. "If all he does is make you miserable, why don't you just let him go?"

She let his words sink in. He was right, and she knew it.

But there was something about Sirius that she knew she would never be able to let go of. She had grown up reading stories of his bravery and loyalty, qualities that she knew he kept until his death. No one else could ever possibly live up to it.

Tom didn't understand. He couldn't.

His kind, gentle face looked down at her now. He wanted her, and made no pretence about it. He was open, and funny, and talented, and charming.

"Will you dance with me?" he asked.

"I'm not going back in there."

"No," he said, "I know. I meant here, will you dance with me here?"

Lucy frowned at him. "There's no music."

Lifting his wand from his belt, he tapped it in the air. Soft music filled the Common Room. She recognised it as an old, slow Muggle song. It was Elvis.

Stashing his wand, Tom held his hand out for her to take.

Lucy paused. After everything that had happened she really didn't feel like dancing. But Tom's handsome face looked so expectant. She didn't know how to tell him no without making it fill with disappointment.

Tentatively, she placed her hand on top of his. It felt a little rough, but there was something comforting about it. He felt like family.

He pulled her gently towards him, coaxing her arms up around his neck and letting his own fall to her waist.

They moved side to side with the steady rhythm of the music. He pulled her closer towards him and she let her head fall on to his shoulder, resting on the thin cotton of his shirt, feeling the rounded firmness of his muscle beneath her.

They stood like that for what seemed like hours. Song after song began and ended. Lucy felt the negativity leave her body, focusing on the reassuring warmth of Tom.

He caressed his hand over the back of her head, sweeping it down her sleek ponytail.

"That looks painful," he observed quietly, peering down at the vice-like grip of her hair tie.

She felt him let go of her to loosen it one loop at a time, releasing her taut hair while she continued to hold onto him. There was a feeling of relief on her scalp as her hair fell around her shoulders.

"Better," he murmured, his voice vibrating through his body into hers. He returned a hand to her waist, letting the other one slide down over her hair.

"Can I kiss you?"

Lucy paused her swaying, leaning back to look at him. His dark eyes repeated his question.

She didn't care about Mary anymore, and Tom had done that for her.

That was part of the reason that she didn't move when he inclined his head towards her.

Even as his mouth touched hers, she knew right away that something felt wrong. Placing her hands on his chest, she pushed him back; it had felt like kissing a brother.

A shuffling from across the room caught both their attention.

"Black," Tom said in surprise.


	19. Homecoming

**A/N: Super fast update! Nearly reached the point in the story that I've never posted online. Pretty daunting to finally get to put it up for real people to make a judgement of. If you're reading this but never get around to leaving a review, please do so! It would be great to hear from you.**

 **Big thanks to my regular signed reviewers, people like you are what make fanfiction worth it.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

 **Homecoming.**

Tom let go of Lucy's waist like his hands had been burnt.

Their eyes darted across the Common Room to find Sirius standing in the middle of the open portrait doorway. His hair was dishevelled, and there was a long ragged rip down the length of his right trouser leg with a sliver of skin just visible in the gap. His suit jacket was strangely absent.

Tom stared openly over at him, making no effort to hide his confusion.

"What happened to you?" Lucy asked aghast, momentarily forgetting that Tom was still stood in front of her.

Sirius's eyes moved between them, his expression unreadable. Without saying a word he turned on his heel and started to leave the same way he came in. He had just placed one freshly scuffed shoe out of the portrait hole when Lucy started to move towards him.

Leaving Tom still open mouthed, she jogged away from him across the Common Room. Her shoes were still somewhere on the Grand Staircase where she had tossed them after Mary's tirade, and the pads of her bare feet thudded painfully against the cold stone floor. She managed to slide through the portrait hole just before it swung shut, snapping the tail of her dress in it.

"Oh, do be more careful," the Fat Lady bemoaned, "You'll ruin my oils with your cheap fabric."

"Cheap fabric?" Lucy blurted out, momentarily outraged. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sirius getting farther and farther away, refusing to stop for her. Without the time to wait for the portrait to open again to release her, she grabbed her trapped dress and yanked on it hard. The side tore completely away, leaving the one side of her skirt in tatters. The detached fabric hung now limply from the closed frame.

The Fat Lady looked at her as if she was mad, for once lost for words.

Sirius was at the end of the corridor before Lucy could catch up. His long legs made the distance seem like nothing. Rushing forwards towards him, she grabbed his retreating arm without thinking and pulled him backwards. Not expecting the sudden contact, he staggered backwards a step before he righted his footing and turned to look at her incredulously.

"What happened to you?" she repeated, scanning his face and ignoring the look of irritation on it. There was a graze of dirt on his cheek that she wanted to wipe away, but his stone cold expression kept her hands firmly by her sides.

"I fell," he said, not bothering to lie convincingly, brushing down the arm of the shirt that she had so rudely disturbed.

Lucy shook her head slightly and carried on silently scrutinising him, waiting for the real answer.

Sirius let out an unamused gust of air, abandoning the pointless straightening of his already ruined dress robes. "Marion told me you were upset," he said with a wry smile. "She forgot to mention you'd be attached to Boswell by the mouth. Pity; it was something I could have happily gone without seeing today." The mocking smile faded from his face and he shook his head, "I only came back to-" he stopped himself, his eyes moving towards her, "- it doesn't matter what I came back to do. It's obvious you've got all the comfort you need." Without out waiting for her to answer, he went to walk away again.

Lucy stared at the back of his head, his messy long black hair somehow looked artful, as if it had been purposefully styled that way. She felt something inside of her snap. She didn't want Tom. She knew it, and she knew Sirius knew it, deep down. A blind man could have seen it. He was pushing her away, and she had no idea why. She never knew why he did any of the things that he did. He was a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in an unbreakable charm.

Since she had arrived at Hogwart, she'd had to put up with Lily controlling her every move, had to accept Dumbledore's seemingly purposefully vague notions about how and when she would return home, and that she might never see her family or friends ever again. And she felt like the person she wanted to like her so badly it was almost a physical hurt, was actually hell-bent on making every last bit of her stay that much harder.

She was done with it.

"You _knew_ you'd be leaving, didn't you?" she demanded, her voice carrying across the corridor towards him. "And you still didn't bother to warn me. Even after everything. You left me standing there alone like an idiot to face Macdonald's ridicule in front of half the ball!"

Lucy had been unable to fight back; glaringly obvious that her own lack of magic wouldn't stand a hope in hell against a group of seventh year witches. Forced to walk away from their taunts like a coward.

Sirius stared back at her in silence, taken off-guard by her outburst.

"At least I know where I stand with Tom," she said, searching his eyes for a reaction, any sign to show that he really felt something. "I don't have guess how he feels each day like a bloody Russian Roulette game."

She knew that this was it; if she carried on now she could never take it back, but she could not stop herself, it was like the floodgates had been opened and there was no way to push them back in place.

"And now you turn up looking like," she gestured to his torn clothes, " _this_. Without any explanation. After everything, you _still_ don't trust me, do you?"

Sirius still didn't answer, keeping his expression closed off to her.

"All those times Lily asked me where we'd been and I gave some weak excuse," she continued. "I didn't even tell her about the Shrieking Shack. I have lied for you so many times. You seriously can't figure out why that is? Is it really so easy to think the worst of me because of something you _think_ you saw?"

Sirius's solemn eyes were fixed directly on hers now, a shred of doubt appearing in them. "I can't tell you where I've been, because it isn't my secret to tell," he said finally.

All at once, understanding hit her like an articulated lorry. She released her breath, thinking back to what had happened before the lights went out and he disappeared from the Great Hall. There had been a full moon, she had seen it herself from the Common Room window.

Sirius didn't move, watching her carefully.

"I know where you've been," she said simply.

"Whatever it is you think you know-"

She walked over to him. " _I know_ ," she said, articulating each word.

It was as if she had delivered him a physical blow.

"Have you told anyone?" he demanded as she came to a standstill in front of him. Their height difference between them was glaringly obvious without her heels, but the expression on his face gave her a satisfied feeling of control.

"Told anyone about what?" A voice asked curiously, approaching them from behind Lucy. Both of them turned quickly to see Tom, who had just walked through the portrait door, growing impatient for the return of his missing date.

"Figured out what's going on yet?" he called to her, "Why's he look like he's been dragged halfway across the Forbidden Forest?"

He was talking about Sirius as if he wasn't even there, and this did not go unnoticed.

"Shouldn't you be on stage making a fool of yourself already?" Sirius said to him, "Better hurry, don't want to be late."

Tom raised his eyebrows and gave a laugh. "That's pretty good, didn't know you had a sense of humour, Black. Whenever I see you usually, you've got a face like a slapped arse."

Sirius's eyes flashed. "I'm not in the mood for this tonight," he said in a low deliberate voice. "If you know what's good for you, you'll carry on walking before I do something you will regret"

Tom's normally placid face hardened, "Oh, I've been so hoping you would start it." His hand moved instantly to the wand sticking out of his long trouser pocket.

"Obscuro!" Sirius called, as if he'd been expecting it. Tom's arm was still halfway in the air when he was hit with the force of the spell. In an instant a conjured blindfold had wound itself around his eyes. Before he could make sense of what had gone on, Sirius snapped another assault. "Levicorpus!"

Tom was pulled roughly into the air by his feet, hanging sightlessly upside down.

Lucy watched the scene unfolding, struck dumb by the sheer speed at which the situation had escalated. Sirius moved with expert fluidity.

"Finite Incantatum," Tom exclaimed finally, pointing his wand inwards. The magical handiwork restricting him undid itself and he dropped to his back on the floor, righting himself quickly. With a gesticulation of his wand and a murmured spell, a heavy, lit candelabra soared from a nearby alcove and whacked Sirius hard across the back of the head.

Violence erupted in his grey eyes. In one movement he had discarded his wand and lunged at Tom with his bare hands, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt collar and throwing him backwards. It was as if he was strengthened by white-hot anger. He moved his balled fist back and went to thrust it forwards to meet with Tom's face.

Acting on instinct Lucy rushed towards him, using her momentum to shove into Sirius as hard as she could before his hand could make contact in what would have been a sickening crunch. Thrown off-guard, he stumbled to one side, his fist still raised. Still lost in his own fury, he steadied himself as if it was no more than a brief intermission and moved to restart his attack.

Footsteps raced in their direction and a flash of red appeared amongst them. "Impedimenta!" it cried.

Sirius's movement slowed to a halt until he stopped resisting Lily's spell.

"You better have a good reason for this," the Head Girl said furiously, her wand still armed and pointed at them.

Both boys chests heaved with exertion, but neither one of them spoke.

She turned to Lucy instead, requesting answers.

When she didn't seem to have any, Lily pinned Tom with her glare, "I trusted you, and this is what you do? I should've seen through your 'nice boy' act. I won't be making that mistake again."

It was as if Tom had realised what he had done, a look of genuine guilt appearing on his face. "I didn't mean for this," he said, trying to catch his breath.

Sirius gave a vicious laugh. If he was out of breath he wasn't showing it. "What had you hoped to do when you reached for your wand, tickle me into submission?" he said derisively.

Tom spoke up to defend himself, and a verbal barrage started up as Lily, Tom and Sirius fought to have their voices heard.

Lucy could see now that it had been a monumental mistake to reveal to Sirius that she knew about Remus's affliction like that. It had been done in the heat of the moment and there would be no coming back from it. Once this was over he would demand answers.

How would he react when he found out what she had been keeping from him; her extensive knowledge of their lives and deaths?

While their attention was distracted, she took the opportunity to move away from them and walk up the adjacent staircase into Lily's dormitory. She needed time to think without all the relentless noise. To prepare herself.

Without really seeing what she was doing, she headed straight for the Head Girl's bathroom, startled by the wild eyes staring back at her from the mirror before realising they were hers. Her previously immaculate ponytail had been let out around her shoulders by Tom and was now swept carelessly around her head.

She twisted the ornate gold taps and once the collected pool of water was warm, splashed it onto her face to rub away her smudged makeup, trying to regain some pretence of control over the situation.

She had withheld the information from them all for too long, kept too many secrets in a mistaken attempt to put off the inevitable. And even after all of that, it had still all come down to this. She had revealed critical, _delicate_ information during a fight with Sirius.

A feeling of painful dread grew in the pit of her stomach, gnawing its way out.

Burying her face into the brief comfort of the soft towel, something reflecting the light on the very top shelf behind her caught her eye in the mirror.

Lowering the towel onto the unit in front of her, she turned and strained up to reach for whatever it was still winking shards of light at her. With the tips of her fingers just about able to brush against it, she managed to nudge the object off the high shelf, catching it heavily in her hands.

As she turned it over, she realised with a start that it was the glass dome that had transported her to Hogwarts what felt like an eternity ago. She had only ever seen the Timekeeper once before, in Dumbledore's office. Lily had obviously kept it hidden here, likely on the Headmaster's instruction. She couldn't understand why she had never seen it up there before.

.o.

"Stop," Lily ordered suddenly, interrupting the insults still being thrown back and forth between the two boys. They stopped to look at her.

"Noticed anything?" she asked, gesturing around them.

Sirius realised what she meant immediately. "Where is she?" he asked, his eyes scanning the area.

"Who, Lucy? She's probably got sick of us arguing and went back to the hall," Tom shrugged.

Lily looked at him pointedly, "Isn't she supposed to be your date?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"What would a good date do, Tom, if their partner was missing?" Lily cut him off.

Tom paused before giving a reluctant nod, "I should probably go and find her."

He seemed reluctant to leave, but Lily stared at him until he moved in the direction of the Great Hall. Once he was a safe distance away she turned back to Sirius, "Speaking of what we should be doing, shouldn't you be with James taking care of Remus?"

Sirius clenched his jaw. "Moony is fine, Prongs and Wormtail are more than capable of handling it."

"I'll go and find Lucy if that's what you're worried about," Lily said, "She's probably gone up to our room."

"I'm not worried," he snapped.

Her eyes widened. "Ok, you're not worried," she said. She said the portrait password and they both passed through it. "You won't be able to come anyway you know, the Head Girls staircase is bewitched to stop boys climbing it the same as the main girls' dormitory is."

Taking a quick look around him to make sure the Common Room was still deserted, Sirius took a couple of steps forward before transforming into Padfoot.

"Smart arse," Lily muttered under her breath as the big black dog dashed past her up the staircase.

.o.

Lucy looked up from the glass dome, hearing noises on the other side of the bathroom door. Someone had entered the main bedroom. There was a fast padding of what sounded like many feet, followed by a slower approach of someone else.

A second passed and then Lily's voice was outside of the door. "Everything okay in there?" she called out, keeping her voice jarringly light.

Lucy debated whether to answer, hoping for a second she could pretend she wasn't in there, but she had locked the bathroom door – something that was visible from the outside.

There was a brief pause and then a masculine voice called through to her.

"We need to finish what we started."

It was Sirius.

Somehow, Lucy didn't think he was talking about their kiss. She squeezed the glass dome tighter. She knew she would have to face them sooner or later. There was only so long she could put it off.

Keeping the Timekeeper clutched in one palm, she unlocked the door with the other, but just as she did she felt an unmistakable roll of vibration through the glass. She looked down in surprise in time to see what had once been crystal clear innards now twisting with spirals of black. It looked like _sand_.

The darkness had seemed to arrive from an indiscriminate point, and yet had somehow managed to fill the glass with a frightening speed. It started to ripple and topple over itself, swirling faster.

Horrified, she dropped the dome like a hot coal, leaving it to roll away before landing neatly on its base. But still the spinning blackness did not disappear.

Hearing the sharp thud, Sirius pushed open the unlocked door, unwittingly nudging it into Lucy's back. Though she was shunted forwards she could not seem to lift her focus from the pulsating glass. A horrible sense of foreboding filled her.

Snapshots of her Muggle life started to blast through her head, images of her past and friends and her father. The lucidity of Hogwarts was being pushed away, even as Sirius came to stand next to her.

His eyes widened as he realised what was going on. "No," he said, but the volume in his voice chased away by the deafening noise in her ears. "Not now, not like this," he continued soundlessly.

There was a sharp tug behind her navel and she felt a violent grunt of air leave her body as she was lifted into the air. It felt like she was spinning on her own axis. Again and again she was pulled around in circles by some unknown force, the relentless rotation bringing on an almost unbearable sickness.

She recognised this feeling from once before, and she knew what was happening.

She was going home.

.o.

Lily squeezed her way through the open crack of the bathroom door, her entrance partially blocked by Sirius's body.

"She's gone," she realised aloud, scanning the now empty room.

Sirius didn't reply, his eyes still fixed on the area he saw Lucy disappear from in front of him. He bent down to pick up the now serene glass dome that had been left behind. It looked back at him innocently.

As suddenly as it had all started, he knew now that it was all over.

"I can't believe she's actually gone," Lily continued breathlessly. "I never thought-"

Still holding the Timekeeper, Sirius pulled the door open and left her standing there mid-sentence. He wasn't sure what the unfamiliar wrenching sensation inside his chest was, as though something crucial had been wrested away. Was it the failure of never uncovering the full truth behind Lucy's appearance at Hogwarts, or something else entirely - the idea of which being far more concerning for him to linger on.

Changing into Padfoot to descend the stairs didn't get rid of the sensation, and it stayed with him as he transformed back on the last step and entered the empty Common Room. Empty except for Tom. Seeing the Gryffindor Beater gave Sirius the sudden urge to dash the glass against one of the stone walls.

"I can't find her anywhere," Tom said as he lounged in one of the nearby armchairs. "No one's seen her in the hall since, well, since the power cut. Marlene said she'd ask around. If you ask me, I can't see the problem, it's not like she could've gone very far. She probably just needed some space."

"Tell Marlene not to bother," Sirius said, walking past him without making eye contact.

"What, you've found her?" Tom asked, looking around as if she would suddenly appear from behind a curtain.

"No."

Ignoring Tom's questioning look, Sirius walked up to the boys' bedroom and tossed the Timekeeper in his chest, then went back down with the same impassive expression fixed on his face.

Lily had just appeared at the foot of her stairs.

Sirius strode past her. "I'm going back to check in on Prongs and the boys," he said in an undertone.

"You said it yourself, they can live without you for just for the one night." Her bright green eyes were filled with concern. "If you're upset you'll be of no use to them," she called after him.

"I'm not _upset_ ," he spat, turning around to face her.

She looked back at him kindly. "It's okay to have emotions, Sirius, you haven't always got to keep them under wraps. She obviously cared about you a lot. I'm sorry I was harsh on you about her, but now you can see why it could never have worked. You're from different worlds. Literally."

Rather than acknowledge what she had said, he turned back and carried on towards the door.

"So are you going to tell me where she is or do I have to guess?" Tom's voice demanded, still seated across the room.

Sirius had forgotten he was there. As he looked back at Tom's confused face, a strange, uncontrollable sound started to emanate from his throat.

Tom frowned deeply. "Are you _laughing_?" he demanded. He rose to his feet. "What is _wrong_ with you? You really are as crazy as the rest of your family."

The laughter died on Sirius's face. "She's gone home, you idiot!" he growled.

Tom stepped back, his face twisted in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Sirius-" Lily cut in, warning him to stop talking.

Sirius's eyes flitted over to her briefly before answering. "She's gone back the same way she arrived at Hogwarts," he told him, "She's never coming back. I don't know how much clearer I can make it for you. You'll just have to find some other girl to attach yourself to."

Tom didn't seem to hear the insult, narrowing his eyes, "How _did_ she arrive at Hogwarts?"

Without giving an answer, Sirius walked out of the door heading back for the Shrieking Shack.

"She pushed me away," Tom shouted after him. "When I kissed her."

Sirius paused mid-step, but did not turn around.

"Nothing's ever happened between us because she had it in her head that she liked you," Tom continued. "And if you don't believe that then you're an even bigger fool than I've always thought you were."

Restarting his pace, Sirius let the portrait swing shut behind him.

Tom stood there dumbly for some time, trying to process what had just happened.

There was no getting away from the fact that Lucy was gone.


	20. Back To The Future

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to review.  
**

 **Chapter 20**

 **Back to the Future.**

Lucy woke up lying flat on her back on the floor as though she had been poleaxed. She squinted her eyes, trying to bring her surroundings into focus. It felt like she had been clubbed round the head with a baseball bat.

The black haired haze that hung over the top of her called her name.

"Shell?" she wheezed, recognising the blurry features of her best friend.

Lucy was lifted into a seating position and forced into a tight hug. A pungent bottle of smelling salts was still gripped in Shell's right hand - the memory of their stench lingering in Lucy's nostrils.

"I'm so glad to see you." Shell studied her face hungrily as if to check it was really her. "Why didn't you return any of my texts? I've been so worried. We looked everywhere for you. _Everywhere_. Everyone did."

The words fell out of Shell's mouth one after the other like toppling dominoes.

She looked behind her at her bedroom door, "Did my mom let you in?"

Lucy tried to shake her head, but it hurt too much to move it.

Shell's chocolate brown eyes raked over her friend's body, eyeing up the strangely formal dark red silk gown that was now covered in deep creases.

"Where have you been all this time?" she asked seriously.

Lucy stared back at her, trying to force her brain to think coherently before she spoke. She knew that whatever had happened, Shell was not ready to hear the truth.

"How long have I been gone?" she breathed, still feeling winded.

Shell narrowed her eyes at the lack of answers. "Two months." Her tone was accusatory. "We thought you had been abducted." She paused before adding, "Some people thought worse."

The words hung poignantly in the air.

People thought she had been murdered, Lucy realised, a hard lump forming in her throat.

Shell looked at her strangely.

"You just disappeared from class," she muttered. "Mike asked you a question. Next thing any of us knew you'd fallen from your seat unconscious. Charlotte even went to call an ambulance, but when we looked back you'd just gone. Just like that," she snapped her fingers to illustrate her point.

"Were you upset about your dad or something?" she questioned, remembering Lucy's turbulent relationship with her father.

Lucy shook her head impatiently. "No, it was nothing like that." She let her head fall into her hands. It was all too much to process.

It was only then that she spotted it lying next to her leg.

Reaching out a tentative hand, she wrapped her fingers around what looked like the wand that had appeared during her Sorting.

Shell looked down at the flimsy looking strip of wood and furrowed her eyebrows. "What's that?"

Lucy picked up her one lasting memory of Hogwarts and felt a flood of hope. It hadn't been a dream. The ball gown meant nothing – it could have easily been purchased from any Muggle shop.

This wand was living proof. Hogwarts had been real the whole time.

Sirius had been real the whole time.

A bubble of excitement erupted in her throat, but the thrill was short-lived.

The fact that it had all been real meant that she really had been forced to give it all up in an instant. And she really had missed the chance to save Sirius Black's life. To save the lives of James and Lily Potter.

The truth felt like a puncture wound to her lungs.

"Lucy, seriously," Shell stated, looking from Lucy to the stick now held aloft in her friend's hand like it had some significance other than just being a piece of wood. "What the hell is going on?"

 _The Sorting Hat seemed to believe that Miss Hamilton would find a use for the wand…We can only trust blindly in its ancient judgment._

Lucy suddenly remembered what Dumbledore had said during their second meeting in his office. He had suggested that the wand could be of use to her one day.

Maybe _this_ was that day. Maybe it could help her to get back.

.o.

Without another second of hesitation, she pointed the ten inch wand at Shell's pencil holder on the desk next to them and chanted, "Wingardium Leviosa." If she could just get it to work.

Shell sat stock still, transfixed by her apparently earnest attempt at a magic spell taken from a children's book. "Ok..." she said quietly, as though raising her voice above a whisper would cause Lucy to lose the last scrap of her already questionable sanity.

"Why don't we just put the stick down and come up and lie on the bed?" she coaxed, her voice soothing as she got up and patted the bed covers.

Lucy bit back the threat of hysteria when her spell did not work. Shell didn't understand. If she didn't get back to Hogwarts, they really _would_ all die. It wasn't a silly game anymore. She had been playing at it, not quite registering the extent of the damage she could cause if she didn't tell them what she knew.

She had been given a chance and she had _squandered_ it. It would cost them all their lives.

She felt a wave of blistering heat threaten to consume her.

Shell looked down at her pityingly, blissfully unaware of her inner turmoil. "Listen, I know you've always had some weird obsession with those books, but this is taking it too far."

"Shell, please, keep an eye on the pen holder and tell me if it moves."

Shell held up her hands in defeat. "Don't say I didn't try and stop you making a prat of yourself." She looked tiredly across at the stationary holder, knowing that it would not move regardless of how many 'Leviosas' her friend threw at it with her branch.

"Wingardium Leviosa," Lucy said again, willing the object to bend to her will with a desperate tenacity. Again it did not move.

Perhaps magic really did not exist in her world.

"Wingardium Leviosa," she tried again, panic creeping into her voice.

Shell shifted uncomfortably on the bed. "Luce, please. This is embarrassing for both of us."

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Lucy was practically yelling now. "Wingardium Leviosa! Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Keep your voice down!" Shell exclaimed, getting quickly to her feet. "My mom will hear!"

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

Shell dived at her, her arms outstretched. Lucy's shouting was put on pause by a hand clamped firmly across her mouth, preventing her from continuing.

"What the f-?" Shell flinched back, "You licked me!?" She looked at the afflicted area as if it could crawl up the sleeve of her jumper and attack her, but her disgusted outcry was cut off by something moving at the edge of their vision.

At first the pen holder's movement was miniscule, just a slight trembling as though weathering an earthquake, but even as they watched it intensified.

It rattled against the desk where it lay, the quivering becoming so strong that it appeared to propel itself upwards. It rose to no more than an inch, but the distance from its original resting place was enough.

Shell blinked, trying to clear her vision.

She made a mental note to book herself in at the opticians, or the doctors perhaps? Her eyes were sending messages to her brain that could not be real.

Lucy let out a cry - of relief and disbelief mingled together - but the lack of concentration took its toll on her spell and the pen holder immediately crashed back down, spilling its contents onto the desk.

One of the pens that it had housed rolled off the side of the unit and came to a stop near Shell's knee on the pine wooden floor, causing her to instantly recoil from it.

She met Lucy's gaze slowly. "What just happened?"

.o.

"There are no strings," Lucy tried to explain yet again, even as Shell waved her hands over the area of the desk the pen holder had lifted itself from as if they would snag on a tell-tale wire. "It was magic. You have to trust me. There's more I need to tell you."

Shell propped herself back onto her bed and looked angrily at her, as if she was now trying to trick her on top of randomly disappearing for two whole months.

"How else do you explain it?" Lucy asked. "You saw it with your own eyes."

She moved the wand again, repeating the spell. This time a notebook rose obediently from the table next to them. Having the knowledge that magic was possible in her world seemed to make it easier to perform.

Shell straightened abruptly. "Will you stop levitating my things!"

The book fluttered back down. "So you admit it then. This is real."

"I never said that," Shell interrupted.

Lucy shot her an exasperated look and Shell let out a sharp breath of air.

"Fine. Let's say I believe you. _How?_ "

Lucy looked back at her. She knew how impossible it would all sound, and how her friend would probably refuse to believe it.

But the truth was all she had.

.o.

By the end of her story about travelling to Hogwarts, Shell's brow was creased with worry. "You need help," she despaired. "You can't seriously believe what you're saying."

"Where do you think I've been for the last two months?"

"Wondering the streets somewhere maybe? Having a psychotic break?" She gestured wildly to Lucy's ball gown, "On a 60 day shopping spree in Primark?!"

"Primark don't sell clothes like this," Lucy pointed out.

Shell shot her a look as though she'd wilfully missed the point. She reached out hesitantly and took the wand from her friend's hand.

Pointing it at the same book Lucy had levitated not five minutes before, she chanted the exact words necessary to make it rise. Though not necessarily surprised, Shell did seem slightly disappointed that nothing happened.

"If it's not a trick, then why won't it work for me?"

Lucy took her wand back and shook her head. "I honestly have no idea."

Shell's mouth twisted. "Well if all this really is true then we have to tell people," she stated baldly. "You can show them. Prove that magic exists. This is the discovery of a lifetime. Think of the money you could make."

Lucy was about to tell her to stop being so ridiculous when something shining on the plain purple bed linen caught her eye.

She got up and reached for it quickly, "My Grandma's ring!"

"I found it on the floor in the Business room just after you disappeared," Shell explained.

"I thought I'd lost it," Lucy muttered in disbelief..

"Yeah, well you almost did. Mike went to pick it up."

Lucy's lip curled, unable to imagine what her tutor could possibly want with her ring. "Thief."

She turned the ring over in her fingers, studying the white gold band - one sapphire stone set neatly into the top of it. Since she was a child she had thought it was truly beautiful. Looking closely at it now it was like a light had switched on in her mind, finally illuminating her jumbled thoughts.

"Were you holding this when I got here just now?" she asked, not daring to know the answer.

Shell looked surprised. "Actually, yes. A few seconds before."

"Sirius was right," Lucy breathed. She looked over at her friend, trying to calm her thoughts, "Shell, this ring is how I ended up in Hogwarts."

Shell shook her head.

"Okay," she said, releasing a calming breath and pinching her fingers together in a self-meditative pose. "Let's say I believe you can do magic now, _and_ that you went to a fictional castle, _and_ that a ring took you there. Surely the fact that you've found it means that we could both go. Right now."

Lucy's heart skipped a beat.

"Maybe we could."

.o.

"How're you feeling, Moony?" Sirius asked as he approached the small group already sat around Remus's usual bed in the Hospital Wing.

Remus turned his head to look, but quickly regretted the speed of his action. He winced, holding his palm to the back of his aching neck.

"I've been better," he answered truthfully, his throat still a little raw from all of the wolfish howling the night before, "but I'll live."

From his place of vigilance at Remus's bedside, James watched Sirius take the spare chair left out for him next to Peter.

They hadn't seen him since he had left them at the Shrieking Shack the previous night, returning to the Yule Ball to ensure that they had not been seen by anyone. Despite what Sirius had told Lily, he had not gone back to his friends that evening. He had needed time alone, instead taking out Bertha. It had been peaceful in the sky that late at night, when most of the birds had nested for the day and just the twinkling of the lights below guided his way. It had cleared his head for a minute.

"Any cause for concern?" James asked him, oblivious of what had happened. "Anyone see any bodiless feet walking out of the Ball?"

Sirius shook his head as he settled into the hospital chair. "Don't worry," he said, glancing at Remus as he answered, "your furry little secret is safe." He tried to grin, but it looked stiff on his face.

"So what's the matter then?" James asked shrewdly. "You look like you've been forced to sniff Snivelly's yellow underwear."

"Where's the Muggle?" Peter asked in a rare moment of perceptive clarity. His pale blue eyes scanned the area as though Lucy might be hiding behind a gurney.

Sirius seemed to take a deliberate moment to regain his patience.

"She's gone," he said simply.

Peter scrunched up his face in an attempt to understand, "What does that mean?"

"What does 'gone' usually mean, Wormtail?" Sirius snapped.

At this, Peter looked embarrassed and shrank back into his seat.

Soft snoring started up in their periphery. While they were talking Remus's impossibly tired eyes had closed, his chest moving up and down in shallow breaths.

James looked from their sleeping friend back to Sirius, waiting for him to elaborate because he, like Peter, did not fully understand.

Sirius took the Timekeeper from his inner coat pocket and upended it at the foot of the bed next to his friend. He had retrieved it from the boys' bedroom, unable to focus while it lay apart from him, not wanting to miss any further action in it.

"It came back to life?" James asked in surprise, grabbing the glass dome and examining it.

Despite his maintained silence, Peter's gaze roved over it in hungry curiosity, as if some semblance of the power the Timekeeper held inside would still be visible to the naked eye.

"To be honest I'd started to think that was it," James confessed, "that she'd be stuck here forever because of us."

He passed the glass back to Sirius. "How'd you get it work?"

"I didn't." Sirius put it back in his pocket, resting against the firm warmth of his chest. " _She_ did."

James noticed Sirius's avoidance of Lucy's name.

"You alright with this, mate?" he asked him carefully.

Sirius gave him a small smirk, "At least you'll have Lily all to yourself again."

A relieved smile passed across James's face, and not just because of Lily's renewed company. It had almost seemed, for a second, as if Sirius was _hurting_.

A loud pig-like snort issued from Remus and he spluttered himself awake.

"What did I miss?" he asked them groggily.

.oOo.

Lucy's blinding panic had subsided over the following two days spent back in the Muggle world, making way for an all-consuming bitter frustration. The constant gnawing underneath her ribcage had become a familiar sensation.

Try as they might, they had not been able to re-activate the link between Hogwarts and their world.

"Maybe the connection will come back when you least expect it?" Shell had offered weakly.

But Lucy knew it wasn't going to. She was never getting back. The connection that had formed between her Grandmother's ring and the Timekeeper was apparently over.

Now all that was left was to face the repercussions of being missing for two months in her own world; Shell's mother had called the police the instant she realised Lucy was in their house. The press about her sudden return was all over social media, and she had an interview with the police due for the coming weekend to 'discuss' where exactly she had been.

She was obviously going to lie.

After going over to Shell's house again to have another unsuccessful attempt at getting them to Hogwarts, she left that evening with a sense of despair heavy enough to choke her. She wrapped her cream knitted scarf tighter around her neck as the icy chill snapped at her.

After a long drive back home down the country lanes, she blustered into her house, calling for her dad.

When she had returned for the first time the night before, her father had been slumped in his usual armchair watching TV. Only the flickering pictures from the television and the yellow glow of the outside streetlamps had cast shadows in the small room; he hadn't bothered to get up to turn on the light or close the curtains.

She had instantly noticed the can of beer clutched in his hand and a clatter of empty containers littering the immediate area around his feet. Making her way over to him cautiously she had been unsure how he would react to the news that she was back after eight weeks with no explanation.

Except, it had been his lack of reaction that had scared her the most. It was as if he wasn't really seeing her. Or perhaps he hadn't fully realised that she had been gone for that long in the first place.

He had just peered up at her and said 'alright sweetheart?' as if she had just popped out to the shop. She had given him a hug and said goodnight, shutting the curtains and flicking the soft glow of the table lamp on before heading up to her own bed for the first time in two months.

"Dad!" Lucy called again now, walking into the seemingly empty house.

There was still no answer.

Making her way through the inner door to the kitchen, she threw her keys onto the work unit. Her eyes were drawn to a roughly scrawled note sat next to where they landed.

 _'Luce,_

 _I've gone away for a bit, need to get my thoughts straight. I've left some money to tide you over. You'll be alright until I get back. It's in the usual place._

 _Sorry bab._

 _Love Dad x'_

She let out a breath. This was not an uncommon occurrence for her father, but she had not expected it when she had been gone for so long. She had hoped he might have wanted to spend a bit of time with her.

"Why break the habit of a lifetime," she muttered tiredly.

Pulling open the kitchen cupboard she reached for the tea caddy. The once intricate scene of a cat stretched out in front of a fireplace on the side of the tin was now scratched and worn away with age. Sure enough her father had left a wad of money inside. She placed it back and made her way upstairs to change into her house clothes.

As she reached the top step her foot faltered in mid-air.

A dirty grey film covered the normally light carpet of the landing upstairs. Now that she looked, she noticed that it was all over the wooden bannister as well. The trail of dust led upwards towards the trap door in the ceiling; dark fingerprints coating the edges of the gloss-painted white loft door.

She frowned, wondering what possible reason her father could have had to go messing around in the loft.

Though she had never had a reason to venture up there herself, she was pretty sure that the only things that their roof space housed were the Christmas decorations, and they hadn't bothered to adorn the house in any seasonal decorations since her mother was around.

Grabbing a collapsible chair from the spare room she climbed unsteadily onto it. She stretched a hand up to the door in the ceiling and flicked the bolt open, supporting the weight of the heavy wooden door as it fell down.

Pulling at the secured metal ladder attached inside, she drew it downwards and discarded the chair.

Lucy took the metal rungs very slowly - they were rickety from age – poking her head up into the darkness of the loft, her eyes straining to adjust. As she looked to her left she recoiled from a matted spider web uncomfortably close to her cheek. Hauling herself up into the darkened space, she grabbed the torch that was kept next to the entrance, praying that the batteries still worked.

She had to find out what had gone on up there.

With a bit of physical coercion against the palm of her hand, the torch flickered to life and the damp, dirty space came into view. Boxes of nameless items were piled high all around her, making the path hard to navigate. It was clearly due for a clean out.

Taking a careful step forwards, she spotted the one thing not covered in a thick layer of dust - a box labelled 'Marie'.

Her breath snatched. Marie was her mother's name.

She couldn't remember all that much about her mother, Marie had left the family home shortly after Lucy's seventh birthday. The memory of her had since become trapped in a haze of sadness that she tried not to think about.

Though she had never been personally told, Lucy had always presumed her father had been at fault in some way for Marie's sudden escape.

She shuffled the 'Marie' box out from where it lay nestled between the others. Even the brown tape that had been hastily applied to the folds looked no more than a few days old. She ripped it open it cautiously, hoping it might finally provide her with answers about her mother.

On top of the other objects inside the box sat a large tattered roll of paper. It was yellowed from sheer age and lack of care. She wondered what the scroll could have to do with Marie; perhaps it was some form of birth certificate?

Unravelling the brittle paper carefully, she could just about make out the black calligraphy dotted neatly around the page.

It looked like a family tree.

Laying the paper out onto the floor, she used the other boxes as paper weights to keep the corners down before shining the full beam of the torch onto the words.

She spotted her mother's name almost instantly.

' _Marie Eleanor Etheridge_ '

A weak smile faltered across her face when she realised her mother had given her the same middle name.

She noticed that neither she nor her father were present on the family tree, unsure if it was purposeful, or merely that the creation of the tree had preceded them.

Two names stood importantly at the very top of the parchment; her earliest known ancestors.

' _Dorothea Smithe ~ Lezarus Etheridge'_

They were her 15th great-grandmother and grandfather.

She traced her finger around the hundreds of other unfamiliar names across the page until one of them made her heart beat out an extra thud in her chest.

Bringing her face closer to page, Lucy squinted at the name that had caught her attention.

It read ' _Thomas A. Boswell'_.

That was Tom's name.

It had to be some kind of coincidence, she realised. But she was intrigued as to how this Tom Boswell fitted into her family tee.

Working back, she saw that Mr Boswell had been married to her mother's sister, ' _Marion Etheridge'_. To all intents and purposes, they still were. They were related through marriage.

She looked at the date that they were wed: ' _1987'_.

Though she could not completely understand why, she felt an inexplicable urge to track her aunt and uncle down.

She had very limited links to her mother, especially now that her Grandmother had passed. Perhaps they would be willing to provide her with answers about her mother that her father refused to, or could not, tell her. They might even be able to tell her where her mother was living.

Lucy made her way back down the creaking metal ladder with the parchment tucked gently underneath her arm.

With a strange sense of excitement and hope that she had not felt since returning home, she jogged down the stairs over to the cabinet by the front door and rummaged through the top draw until she found the tattered leather-bound notebook she had been looking for.

She knew that it held every last one of her parent's contacts since before she was born. If her mother's sister was not in it, she would be willing to eat Lily's old winter bobble hat.

Flicking through she stopped when she reached the 'B' section.

"B for Boswell," she said aloud.

Her eyes scanned the B's in the address book fervently. "Bate, Best, Blewitt, Bojanger..." she read them off quickly.

"Boswell!" she exclaimed. She could hardly believe it.

' _Boswell, Marion & Thomas.'_

Jotting down the phone number that had been provided on a spare bit of paper, she felt her chest expand in anticipation. The search for answers was a welcome reprieve from thoughts of Hogwarts.

Sitting on the stairs she stared straight ahead at the telephone on the table, clutching her aunt and uncle's phone number in her hand. She tried to psyche herself up, searching for courage.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she swallowed and reached out to pick up the phone. The dial tone sounded uncomfortably loud in the quiet hallway.

Her fingers dialled her aunt and uncle's number carefully, trying to make the nerves jangling in her stomach go away.

They had probably moved house decades ago, she reassured herself. She would just ask for Marion, be told that she had the wrong number, and then she could move on in the knowledge that she had tried her best.

The ringing stopped abruptly and there was a pause before a man's deep voice spoke.

"Hello?"

Lucy's heart jolted. She heard her voice waver as she replied,

"Hello, is Marion Boswell there, please?"

There was a silence that seemed to span the decades before the man finally responded.

"No. Marion Boswell has not lived here for many years."

Lucy heart sank. She paused before continuing more hopefully,

"Is Thomas Boswell there?"

"Who is this?" the voice demanded.

"My name's Lucy," she replied uncertainly, unsure why the man seemed almost angry at her.

"I don't know any Lucy," he replied shortly.

"Thomas Boswell?" she questioned uncertainly. "Is this Mr Boswell?

"I'm Lucy Hamilton, I-"

The phone line went dead. He had hung up on her.


	21. Uncle Tom

****Edit: You've probably noticed that chapter update notifications aren't working properly on FF. Just so you know, I won't bother posting any more on either of my stories until it's fixed so you don't have to constantly check or worry about missing an update. I have a chapter ready and waiting for this story as soon as this issue is sorted.**

 **Really sorry for making you have to wait, I'm probably feeling more impatient than you to just get it up for you to read.  
**

 **Chapter 21**

 **Uncle Tom.**

Referring back to the leather family phonebook, Lucy flicked through for her aunt and uncle's family name of Boswell again.

Drawing her finger down the page she jotted down their address. Mr Boswell had inadvertently confirmed that the phone number written in the book was correct just by answering. That meant any street address provided would likely also be right.

Now that she knew for certain there was a flesh and blood connection to her mother out there, she knew she had to see them. Her father had always closed the conversation down whenever Lucy tried to bring the topic of his missing wife up, and never getting to find out why she had just left them all those years ago had left her with a hole that had seemed would never be resolved.

It was almost as if it was fate – finding the family tree in the way that she did at the time she did. Had she uncovered it two months earlier she might not have had the courage to follow it up.

Waiting until the light of the next morning, she showered and dressed quickly, pulling her scarf and coat on and grabbing her bag and keys resolutely.

Climbing into her little yellow car, she leaned over to pull the A to Z from the glove compartment. Her aunt and uncle's home was approximately thirty miles south along a relatively straight route, lying just off an A-road she very often used to get to her sixth form.

She could be there in an hour.

.o.

It was a restless drive, during which she found herself questioning what exactly she was doing more than once. She had to remind herself continually that this could be her only chance to get answers – her aunt and uncle must know _something_.

Why did her mother leave their family home without warning ten years ago? Where was she now? Was she even still alive?

She switched a CD on in an attempt to distract herself.

Finally she left the long country roads behind and pulled down a quiet cul-de-sac with a white and black street sign reading _'Lupin Close_ '. She could not help but notice the irony of the name.

If her map reading was correct, her aunt's house lay somewhere amongst the semi-circle of detached houses that were now spread out before her. She peered around at her surroundings; they were pleasantly middle class, the modern houses large and neat with white garages and perfectly preened front gardens separating one regimentally from the other.

The family she had never met would be in one of them right now, with no idea that their niece sat just outside.

Adjusting herself briefly in the rear view mirror, she took a deep breath in before exiting the safety of her car. As it was a Sunday most of the driveways were occupied with large, expensive looking vehicles.

She straightened, feeling a little out of place in her casual clothes.

"Number twenty three," she reminded herself.

She spotted number twenty one, and then suddenly there it was, the house standing out to her as if illuminated.

Ignoring the pulse thundering in her ears, she made her way up the herringbone-bricked driveway to the gold plate reading '23', rapping on the door knocker three times. She waited. After what felt like forever the door finally cracked open.

A tall, pale man looking to be in his forties appeared wearing a casual shirt rolled up to his elbows. His full, tousled hair stood up from his head, cropped underneath to reveal the odd fleck of silver. He stared back at her through dark eyes. Lucy was slightly taken aback - he was better looking than she'd pictured him from his voice.

His placid expression disappeared instantly when he saw her. He looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Hello," she greeted, forcing her voice to come out firmly. "Mr Boswell?"

"Yes, who are you?" he demanded.

"I tried ringing you yesterday evening, I'm Lucy Hamilton-"

She felt the breeze across her face as the door slammed shut. Standing stock still for a second she tried to register what had just happened.

She had not driven for an hour in traffic only to be turned away now. Steeling herself, she rapped on the door knocker for a second time. This time there was no answer. Lowering her face to the letterbox she called through it.

"Hello? Mr Boswell?"

When there was still no sign of activity she knew she had nothing to lose. "I'm Marion Boswell's niece!" she called through the small hole. "Her sister, Marie Etheridge, is my mother!"

She straightened up when she saw a shadow move across the other side of the door. The dark eyed man appeared again, this time his expression uncertain.

"You had better come in," he told her reluctantly, looking around to see if any of his neighbours were eavesdropping.

.o.

Once she was ushered inside onto the large suede couch, Mr Boswell made his way into the adjacent kitchen. He looked back briefly.

"Tea? Coffee? Or maybe you'd prefer an orange squash?" The tone in his voice made her feel like he was ridiculing her age.

"Tea is fine, thanks."

He walked back in a couple of minutes later with two steaming mugs.

"I don't suppose you've heard, considering you came all the way here," he started, "Marion Boswell, my wife, has been missing for nearly five years now." His voice was cold and matter-of-fact.

"Missing?" Lucy cradled the hot tea, staring at him in an attempt to see if he was lying to her. "No. I didn't know that."

Her aunt, her only blood relative left on her mother's side, was gone? Just like her mother. The burgeoning hope that she might finally have a proper family was snatched in an instant.

She watched Mr Boswell take a sip from his striped mug, vaguely noticing the short stubble that lay across his jawline – clearly he hadn't bothered to shave over the weekend.

"So," he began, "You say you're Marion's niece?"

"Yes."

"So as her husband, I suppose that would make me your uncle by default?"

"I suppose it does." She felt suddenly awkward, wishing she could just leave.

Mr Boswell breathed a humourless laugh to himself as if he knew something she didn't.

"Well, Lucy… and you're going to find it funny when you hear this," he paused to take another drink of his tea, not looking like he would ever find anything remotely funny, "I actually used to know a Lucy Hamilton myself, many years ago."

He paused to set his mug down and gauge her reaction.

She sat in silence.

"The Lucy Hamilton I knew attended the same school as me," he continued. "So of course she would be my age by now. How old did you say you were?" he questioned as an after-thought.

"Seventeen," she replied uncertainly.

Mr Boswell's strange black eyes bored into her like burning coals. Those eyes seemed scarily familiar, but it was not possible.

"What school did you go to?" she asked him slowly, not daring to know the answer.

"Hogwarts."

Her heart faltered.

She looked in disbelief at the man sat in front of her, trying hard to find the face of the charming seventeen year old boy she had known.

"It _is_ you, isn't it?" he accused her.

.o.

"Tom?" Lucy whispered in disbelief.

The striking black hair colour of his school days was now peppered with silver, but his dark eyes and pale skin remained unchanged. Though perhaps with more stubble and fine lines than there once were.

He stared over at her, his face as white as a sheet.

"How?" he mouthed, his voice strangled. "How are you possible?" His angled face twisted with incredulity.

"Tom," Lucy breathed, feeling the tightness in her chest threatening to implode.

Without thinking she pushed her mug hastily onto the sideboard next to her and moved forwards to pull him to her, desperate to hold onto a living, breathing link to Hogwarts, sat right in front of her.

He brought his hands to her back uncomfortably. What had been just days for her had been two decades ago for him. He held her back to look at her properly.

"You haven't aged a day." He shook his head. "You're just how I remember you."

.oOo.

After the day's lessons and dinner had finished, the Marauders sat with Lily on the Common Room armchairs.

"Checkmate," Sirius said lazily, watching as his black queen strode over to deal the final blow to Peter's white king. It had been too easy to beat the smaller boy, even in Sirius's tired state.

For one reason or another he had not slept a full night since the evening of the Yule Ball, and it showed in the faint dark circles around his usually clear eyes.

He focused on the chess board as he set it back up for another round.

"I'm going to try and reanimate the Timekeeper," he stated as matter-of-factly as if he was passing comment on the weather.

Playing 'snap' with Remus on the other half of the table, James threw down a card, yelled 'Snap!' at the matching jacks and looked across at him. "Are you joking?"

Sirius continued to lay the pawns out. "I need to know why it won't work anymore," he replied simply.

Realising what was going on, Lily looked up from the Charms homework resting on her knees. "What? No! Lucy is where she belongs. You can't bring her back, Sirius."

"This isn't about her," he replied.

Remus let out an inaudible sigh as he collected the cards from the table and reshuffled them.

"Something to say?" Sirius asked, glancing up at him.

Remus fixed him with a grim look. "Why does it matter to you that it won't work? All that matters is that it did when it needed to."

"And maybe she wanted to get home," Peter tried cautiously, afraid he would once again be the target of Sirius's sharp tongue if he expressed his opinion.

"Even if she didn't want to she's not meant to be here," Lily added softly. "Even Dumbledore said that." She looked to James for back up, but he had made the decision to extricate himself from the conversation; Sirius was already outnumbered.

"You can't play with people's lives," Remus said quietly.

"We already did!" Sirius reminded him, unable to believe how quickly his friend could forget, "When we brought her here. What's the difference now?"

"The difference is this would be deliberate!" Lily shot back.

They were cut off abruptly by a jarringly cheerful voice.

"How are we all on this fine day? I spy a ray of winter's sunshine."

The group looked over as one as the Headmaster walked towards them, not one of them noticing his approach. He cast an appreciative eye out of the window at the pale blue sky.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Peter spluttered in surprise, his expression guilty at their previous topic of conversation.

The Headmaster smiled down at him.

Lily's bright green gaze darted towards Sirius, warning him not to mention the Timekeeper anymore.

Dumbledore took a seat next to them, settling his robes.

"There I was, sitting in my office catching up on my weekly Muggle newspapers," he began genially, peering over his half-moon spectacles at them, "when the strangest of thoughts occurred to me. I was filled with the peculiar belief that our Miss Hamilton had finally found her way home."

Lily sucked in a breath.

Dumbledore smiled knowingly. "You must be relieved, Mr Black. Knowing your mistake has been righted, and all is well."

"He thinks she didn't want to leave," Peter blundered.

Remus closed his eyes with a low groan.

"Ah," Dumbledore acknowledged Peter quietly, visibly unsurprised by his revelation. "But you see, sometimes what is best for us isn't always what we want."

He let his eyes wander over all of them briefly before they landed finally on Sirius.

"Needless to say," he continued, "I do not want any of you trying to interfere in Miss Hamilton's path any further. Now that she is home she must stay there, and I am afraid there are to be no negotiations on the matter."

A muscle in Sirius's jaw moved, but he did not speak.

Satisfied, Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"See you all at dinner," he said, the airiness returning to his voice. "I hear it's hotpot."

.oOo.

"I think I travelled through some kind of Time-Turner, Portkey thing the night of the Yule Ball," Lucy finished, though she was not really sure that was an accurate description.

She was trying to help Tom understand how any of this was possible. He had sat there in silence, listening to her talk, watching her using exactly the same mannerisms as she had twenty years ago as if nothing had changed.

"Black told me you'd gone home that night," he said in a low voice. "Said you'd 'gone back the same way you got to Hogwarts'. I always thought it was another one of his ridiculous tricks. I never thought..." he trailed off.

"But didn't you wonder where I'd gone?" she asked him, "when I just disappeared that night and never came back?"

Tom's expression looked haunted, "But Lucy, you _did_. You finished school with the rest of us. It was only afterwards we lost touch."

She stopped breathing, trying to work out what he could mean.

It was only then that the thing that had been staring her in the face since she had got to his house hit her like a ton of bricks: Tom had been in her world all along.

And if Tom was there, then that meant Hogwarts was too.

Her stomach somersaulted. All this time there had _never_ been two realities. There had only ever been one. At one point or another, Sirius, Lily, James, Remus, even Peter – they would have all existed in her world.

They all suddenly seemed so achingly close, as if just within the reach of her fingertips. Only time separated her from them.

"Have you ever read anything that made you think of Hogwarts?" She spoke quickly, unsure of exactly how to put it. "A fictional story, I mean?"

"A Muggle book?" Tom clarified.

Selling Hogwarts as a fictional tale for Muggles would be the perfect disguise for any loose-tongued wizards – everyone would think they were simply referring to a fictional book, not to an actual magical community.

Tom grimaced. "I think most wizards steer clear from Muggle fiction."

"Oh." She felt a rush of frustration that he couldn't provide more answers. She was sure there was something more to the books that she was yet to understand.

"You know," he said slowly, a thought occuring to him, "I could probably take you to platform nine and three quarters when the students return after Christmas, if you wanted to get back to Hogwarts that badly."

Lucy opened her mouth to immediately agree before realising the flaw in the plan.

"I'm a Muggle. They wouldn't take me."

Besides, she thought to herself, it would be of no use. If the books were all correct then Sirius Black had already died back in 1996. Nine years ago.

She was mulling this over when she noticed Tom still staring at her from the corner of her eye.

"Sorry," he said, looking quickly away, "I just can't seem to wrap my head around it. I'm old enough to be your _father._ You were my date to the ball for Merlin's sake." He shook his head again. "How can you be Marion's niece?"

He looked out of the window, deep in thought, and she couldn't help but feel a swell of pity for him. He was right, it was all so impossible. It was hard enough for her to make sense of it. Tom had closed that chapter of his life.

With all thoughts of her mother long forgotten, she glanced at the clock. "I should go. I have a long drive back and it's getting late." She needed time to think.

Tom watched her get up.

"You could stay here for the night. If you wanted to," he offered uncertainly.

When she didn't answer, he continued, "I live alone. There are three spare bedrooms to choose from. I mean, I'd ring your father, of course, let him know you're staying with," he paused, as if testing the word in his mind, "your 'uncle'."

Lucy let out a breath. The idea of staying with him felt oddly comforting. It wasn't like her father was at home to miss her anyway.

She nodded. "Thanks, that would be...nice."

Tom seemed genuinely pleased by her agreement, his smile causing his eyes to crinkle at the corners. In that instant, she recognised his seventeen year old self.

"We could get a takeout," he said, clearly cheered by the prospect of company, "catch up properly."

She tried her best to share his enthusiasm. "Okay…Uncle Tom."

He stood up and gave her a grimace. "Please, stick to Tom."

.o.

The more they chatted, the more she saw of his old gestures and sense of humour. It was oddly reminiscent of their time at Hogwarts, but now age, time and family ties separated them irrevocably.

He sat next to her on the couch and chuckled absentmindedly, remembering the first time they met.

"You looked so sorry for yourself stuck in the Trick Stair," he smiled wistfully. "I've heard stories of people being trapped in it overnight, you were lucky I came along to save you."

She raised an eyebrow. "You found it incredibly amusing if I remember rightly."

Tom gave a laugh. "Yeah, well, I was just a kid," he dismissed, before admitting, "though it was pretty funny."

They were old times for him, but for her it was all still fresh.

His expression turned oddly pensive.

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you since you got here," he said, moving to rest his arm along the back of her chair, "You don't seem to know and I didn't want to scare you. Not right away."

Lucy eyebrows pulled together, not liking the sudden intensity of his expression. He leaned in towards her, closing the space between them, his dark eyes studying hers.

"How much do you know about your mother?" he asked carefully, his voice low as if they might be overhead.

"Not much," she breathed.

He seemed to consider it for a second, as if weighing up whether to go ahead.

"My wife, Marion… she was a witch," he said. "Her whole family were magical. Including her sister."

She narrowed her eyes, unsure if he meant what she thought he meant.

"You're not just a Muggle, Lucy," he confirmed. "Your father married a witch."

His expression was as earnest as she had ever seen it.

She wasn't a magically-gifted Muggle anomaly. How could she be? Knowing, as she now did, that there was magic in her world. It had been foolish of her not to question it before.

Tom looked worried, moving his hand to her shoulder and squeezing it.

"Marion told me of the pressure her family put on your mother to leave your home," he told her gently. "They were from countless generations of Purebloods. The idea of one of their own marrying into a non-magical family did not sit well with any of them. They threatened to disown her." He took a breath before continuing, "Your mother buckled underneath her family's pressure."

It was hard for Lucy to speak. "That's why she left us?" All this time she had blamed her father. "Because she didn't want to _upset_ them?"

"I'm sure there was more to it than that," Tom tried, retracting his hand.

But the reasons didn't matter. What mattered was that her mother had deserted her family when they needed her most.

"Where is she now?" she asked in a measured voice.

Tom shook his head a little, a deep sadness settling on his face. "I'm sorry."

"She's dead," she realised.

He held a hand up quickly. "No. No, I don't know where she is. Marion went looking for her. She could still be alive. They both could."

"But that was five years ago," she replied.

They both sat in silence for a second, searching one another's eyes.

There was a knock at the door and they both started at the sound, jumping back.

"Takeout's here," Tom said softly.

.o.

Lucy slept uneasily that night. Tom's comfortable spare bed was not enough to prevent her disloyal thoughts.

As much as she wanted to, there was nothing she could do about her mother's choice, but she had not given up on making things right for Sirius and the others. She needed that glimmer of hope to hold onto.

The next morning she woke tired, impatient to get the first day back at her Muggle college out of the way so that she could start acting on her plans in earnest.

If she could just persuade Tom to take her to the Ministry of Magic. If she could just convince them that there was a chance Voldemort could be stopped before he had chance to instigate the prophecy with the Chosen One. Perhaps then they would allow her to use some kind of Time-Turner to return to the past and warn them all.

Or, perhaps they would think she was a liability and Obliviate her.

Either way she knew she had to try.


	22. Unexpected Arrival

**A/N: Hopefully the email updates are working now. Really hope you like this chapter, it all escalates from here. x  
**

 **Chapter 22**

 **Unexpected Arrival.**

Despite Dumbledore's warning not to interfere any further, Sirius was never much inclined to follow the rules, particularly if he didn't agree with them. He had since tried to reanimate the Timekeeper more times than he could count on both hands and feet, but nothing had worked.

He didn't like failure; it brought out his natural tendency to brood. It wasn't as if he could ask his friends for help. It had been made abundantly clear by everyone that the mercurial slab of glass should be left well enough alone.

Perhaps they would see it differently if they knew about Lucy's final admission to him - she knew Remus was a _werewolf_. For reasons that Sirius couldn't begin to imagine, he hadn't yet told them that she knew. Perhaps it didn't matter now anyway, afterall, she was gone.

.o.

James's new favourite past-time was practising Quidditch moves with the now stagnant Timekeeper.

"And he throws it to Potter," he said in a sports announcer voice, tossing the Timekeeper up into the air as he danced around a table in the Common Room. It flew in an arc above Peter's body, which was stood bent at the waist searching for any dropped Fudge Flies underneath his chair.

Spinning gracefully around the smaller boy's backside, James caught the heavy glass with one hand behind his back.

"Unbelievable!" he roared, "Potter catches it in an unprecedented move!" He held it aloft like a trophy, imitating the cheers of a crowd with his hand cupped around his mouth.

Peter got up and wiped the dust from a rescued sweet on his t-shirt and shoved it in his mouth, giving James a round of applause.

James flourished a bow to him, continuing in his commentator voice, "There's a reason they call him the Hot-Shot, and _this. is. it_."

"Nobody calls you the Hot-Shot," Remus stated without looking up from his book.

"Every true sportsman has to deal with naysayers," James lamented to himself, "And as the very best, James Potter knows this burden only too well."

Sirius re-pocketed the motorcycle keyring he had been idly turning over in his hands and went to snatch the Timekeeper from his friend, but James spotted him at the last second and swivelled on the spot, pirouetting around to block his way with his back.

"Is there nothing Potter can't do?" he marvelled to himself.

"Convince Lily to share his bed?" Sirius offered dryly, reaching around him to take another swipe at the glass.

James pretended not to hear him, making his way over to Remus who now cast a watchful eye up to check the heavy dome of glass was nowhere near his delicate cranium.

Throwing the Timekeeper high into the air again, James leapt up to catch it, but just as his fingers touched the base he was taken off-guard when someone shoved hard into his back. Simon had backed into him, laughing with his friends as they made their way across the Common Room. It knocked James sideways and left the solid glass of the Timekeeper to submit to gravity without anyone there to catch it.

With lightning fast reflexes, Sirius got to his feet and leapt towards it, extending the full length of his arm. He managed to catch the glass in one long fingered hand with a soft ' _flunk_ '.

Simon turned his head and looked impressed. "Nice one. You should probably be on the Quidditch team," he remarked casually, before returning his attention to his friends.

Sirius shot his retreating back an unimpressed glare, straightening himself. He turned his attention back to James, but was surprised to find the easy grin had fallen from his friend's face.

"What is it?"

James grabbed the Timekeeper from Sirius's hands and hid it behind his back just in time before Lily joined their group.

"You know I've been thinking," she said, breezing over to them, "we should start holding study sessions in the library for students who want a bit of extra help with their NEWTs. Goodness knows there are a few people who could do with it and I heard the Slytherin Head Boy and Girl have already started a weekly..." she trailed off to look at them suspiciously, "...aaand what are you up to?"

Remus stared at the pages of his book with an unnatural intensity, and Peter had sat swiftly down, his eyes darting nervously between her and James's back.

James adjusted his face into unconvincing innocence. "Mmm? Yeah. Study sessions sound good. Maybe Padfoot here can help lead them."

"Of course," Sirius replied, moving next to his friend to provide extra coverage. "Nothing would make me happier than to aid in the betterment of my fellow Gryffindors."

Lily raised a fine eyebrow. "Whatever you have behind your back, it will be easier for all of us if you just hand it over now." She held her hand out expectantly.

"Alright, but don't get the wrong idea," James said reluctantly. "I was just messing about with it. Nothing untoward."

He handed her the Timekeeper.

"How do you still have this?" she asked in shock. "I thought Dumbledore would've confiscated it by now."

"Guess he forgot," Sirius replied easily.

Lily was just about to rebuke them about the dangers of playing around with something so volatile, knowing its capabilities, when she felt her arms give a shudder. She looked down slowly and saw that the previously clear depths of the glass had become suddenly dark.

The twisting black sand was back.

"NO!" James shouted, lunging towards her. He knocked the glass violently out of her hand, but it was already too late. Their eyes met for one last time before it collided heavily with the stone floor and Lily disappeared right in front of their eyes.

This time the Timekeeper did not survive the impact, showering the floor in a fountain of silvery dust.

Sirius put a hand to his best friend's shoulder, both of their gazes still fixed on the area Lily had been standing not a moment before. Behind them Remus and Peter sat very still.

James allowed his outstretched hand to slowly fall, struck by an emotion he had very rarely experienced during the course of his short privileged life: despair.

.o.

Feeling a sharp tug from somewhere behind her navel, Lily watched James and his friends disappear into a blurred haze. The last thing she heard was the unmistakable sound of glass smashing.

After the world finally stopped spinning she fell to her feet, landing in a brightly lit corridor. She was in Purgatory, she thought for one impossible second. But even as she looked on more details of the hallway came into focus.

Lily did not know much about the after-life, but she was almost certain it would not have grimy windows and peeling white paint.

Blue doors were spaced evenly along the walls, all of them firmly closed, and too-bright lights shone in a line above her head, their intensity reminding her of an interrogation spotlight. It almost resembled a Muggle hospital.

She wondered why the owners of the building felt the need to keep the lights on when it was clearly broad daylight outside. What with the bleak rainy sky out there it gave the place an unpleasant feeling of perpetual night time.

A sound reminiscent of a fire alarm began to ring out around her.

Her head darted up to the culprit; a shiny red bell attached to the wall. She fought the urge to hold her assaulted ears.

Suddenly, all of the blue doorways opened simultaneously and the deserted hallway was filled with what felt like hundreds of people. They swarmed around her, each of them walking past as if she didn't exist. The thought occurred to her that she was trapped in a memory.

Was the Timekeeper really just some sort of Pensieve - the black sand inside just swirls of memories? If it was, that meant she really could be anywhere. And now that it was destroyed she would be trapped there, unable to interact with anything or anyone. Forever.

A teenage girl who looked to be around the same age caught her eye and Lily began to follow her, hoping she would lead her out of the building. She just had to get outside, away from the masses of people.

Walking a couple of feet behind the girl through the crowd their path finally came to a halt inside yet another brightly lit room. There were rows of desks inside with people starting to take their seats.

One of the boys already sat down began to eye Lily interestedly as she stepped in. She glanced behind her to check if he was looking at someone else, but there was no one else there. When she looked back at him the boy grinned and winked.

He could _see_ her.

She wasn't sure whether to feel outrage or relief. This was clearly not a memory, and this was definitely not the exit. She backed quickly out of the room.

The ringing continued to blare out furiously behind her, not allowing her a moment to think straight. Standing stationary in the middle of the corridor, the swarms of people swept around her, suffocating her.

.o.

Lucy stepped out from her Psychology lecture with a sense of relief.

A few of her classmates had made -what appeared to be- embarrassing attempts to use their amateur psychoanalysis skills on her during the lesson, trying to find out exactly where she had been during the months she had been gone.

People didn't just randomly go missing at her college. For this reason she now found herself the current source of intrigue, much to her dismay.

She dropped her hand from her Grandma's ring where her fingers had spent the lesson worrying it, wondering what it would be like at Hogwarts right now if she was still there. What had they all thought of her sudden departure?

It didn't matter what they had thought because they would all be long gone by now, she reminded herself. All of them, killed before their time. And it would have been her fault.

She shoved the horrible thought from her head, spotting Shell waiting loyally for her further along the corridor ready to make their way to their Business lecture. Shell's five-foot-ten stature made her easy to spot in the crowd.

But something in her peripheral vision caught Lucy's eye as she made her way over. A flash of strikingly familiar colour. She turned just in time to see it disappear towards the exit door at the end of the hall.

"Come here a sec," she said, grabbing Shell's wrist and pulling her towards it, her burning curiosity compelling her to keep going.

Shell was buffeted through the groups of students, "Luce, what are you doing? Business is _that_ way." She nodded in the other direction.

"I thought I saw something," Lucy said doubtfully, feeling a stirring of disquiet in her gut.

"Was it Matt?" Shell asked hopefully, thinking immediately of the boy she fancied. "Maybe we could skive off Business and follow him. He has this period free."

Lucy didn't answer, and as they reached the end of the corridor Shell twisted in an attempt to break free from her friend's now painful grip on her wrist. Releasing her, Lucy made her way through the double exit doors leading out into the cool air of the science block courtyard.

She stopped abruptly, feeling her heart stall in her chest.

Her friend bumped into her from behind. "What's going on?" Shell asked, peering over to see what had glued her to the spot.

Lucy pointed a shaking finger towards the flash of colour she had been following, now stood very much stationary in front of them. It couldn't be. It _couldn't_ be.

Shell watched as the cascade of long red hair turned around to face them, the girl's pretty green eyes widening when she saw them, her concerned expression freezing on her face.

"Lily," Lucy managed to say it out loud.

Lily's distress turned immediately to sheer disbelief. Lucy began to walk towards her, her legs working on instinct alone. When they met, the two girls fell into each other's arms, paralyzed by shock.

"Thank Merlin," Lily breathed into her shoulder, her fingertips biting into the flesh beneath Lucy's blouse. She felt the beginnings of irrational tears sting her eyes and fought them back. She had thought she was completely alone in this strange place. The appearance of a familiar face hit her like a tidal wave of hope.

.o.

Mr Boswell pulled up outside of Kew College at exactly half past four, just as expected.

He had offered Lucy a lift, but was fast regretting it - both sides of the road outside her college were stacked bumper to bonnet with cars. It was because of this that he had been forced to park his fancy new convertible on zigzag lines and pray that she would make it snappy. The last thing he needed was another parking ticket.

He still could not quite believe that she was his niece.

He had forgotten what it felt like to openly let himself laugh with no thought of how it might be perceived after the disappearance of his wife. He had been in perpetual mourning since that day without even really realising it. Five long years.

But being with Lucy last night, it was as if a small shred of his old spirit had been reawakened. There was no doubt about it that it was her. Exactly as pretty, funny and _strange_ as he had always remembered her. She had been his friend. His high school crush.

He could still remember how deeply his teenage feelings had run for her. At the time it had seemed impossible to focus on anything else.

It made him feel almost sordid to think of it now.

It was too late to wonder how things might have turned out now, and he would just have to accept that. Short of changing ancient history, there was no alternative.

A familiar head of long, dark blonde hair weaved its way through the throngs of students towards him and rescued him from his thoughts. He noticed she was flanked by a couple of friends of a similar age.

Holding up a hand in greeting, he turned the engine on and put the car into gear ready to make a quick getaway, holding his foot down on the clutch.

"Tom," Lucy greeted, an almost feverish light in her eyes.

Tom tried to smile back. "Had a good day?"

His eyes were drawn to her two friends, still stood either side of her. A tall girl with caramel skin stood to her left, and on Lucy's right was a smaller red head, whose fine features seemed to be set in what looked like worry.

Tom double took at the young woman, his readied foot springing from the clutch pedal causing the car to jerk sharply forwards as it stalled.

His focus moved slowly up to Lucy.

"Please tell me this isn't what I think it is," he said, referring to the second ghost he had seen in two days.

.o.

"Sorry, Thomas, but it is," Lily replied. She was holding herself together like a tightly wound ball of wool. It felt like she could unravel at any time, but she was stronger than that.

"She knows who I am?" Tom asked Lucy.

"I told her everything that's happened since I got back," Lucy replied.

A few of the boys from her college had started to gather around the car, muttering their appreciation amongst themselves.

"Nice Chev," one of them said. "C6, ain't it?"

Tom ignored them. "You had both better get in," he told Lucy, readying the gear stick again. "We'll talk about this back at the house. Privately." He shot a pointed glance in Shell's direction.

"Luce?" Shell entreated her.

"I'll text you as soon as I know what's going on," Lucy promised her distractedly.

"I'll text you in an hour," Shell countered. "And you better get back to me or I'm coming over to the house myself."

"Then thank Merlin you don't know where it is," Tom murmured under his breath.

As Shell walked away, Lucy guided Lily into the car. Once they were seated she took her hand. "Everything will be alright," she murmured to her, "We'll sort this." Tom pressed the open-top into breakneck speed, weaving along the country lanes leading back to his house and she felt Lily's grip tighten.

In no time at all they swerved into Lupin Close.

Crunching on the handbrake, he got out in one fluid movement and held his hand out to help Lily dismount. "Come on," he coaxed as she stepped over the side of the car and down onto the paving stones. "Let's get you inside."

Passing her the house keys, he turned back to Lucy, letting her lean her weight into him as she climbed out.

"You alright?" he asked uncertainly.

She settled her feet on the floor. "Yeah."

She couldn't tell him the truth; that she secretly wished it had been Sirius who turned up so that she could keep him with her, safe, forever. Tom did not need to know the full extent of just how selfish she really was.

When they got in Lily was stood in the middle of the front room. The clean, modern simplicity of Tom's house was a world away from Hogwarts ancient décor, and even further away from the somewhat chintzy interior of her own house. She looked as out of place as if someone had just dropped in her there.

Tom beckoned her to the armchair, "Sit down, tell us what happened."

.o.

"And the last thing I heard before I was brought here was the sound of glass smashing," Lily finished, a visible sense of hopelessness filling her face.

"The Timekeeper?" Lucy questioned.

"It's destroyed," Tom realised with a grave expression, leaning forwards on his seat to rest his arms on his knees.

"Yes," Lily shrugged despairingly. "It had to be that, what else could it be?"

"But Dumbledore said our worlds could snap back to correct themselves regardless of the Timekeeper," Lucy remembered.

Lily didn't look consoled by the idea. "It didn't work that way for you," she observed.

"No," Lucy admitted. "I don't think he realised we were from the same one all along."

Lily mulled the concept over in her head. "It was just a glorified Time-Turner this entire time, with less accuracy. To think something as dangerous as that was just sat in the Room of Requirement for Merlin only knows how long. Do you think I was brought here through the same connection that you were?" she wondered.

Lucy's focus inadvertently landed on her Grandmother's ring on her left hand, remembering that she had spent the lesson twisting it over and over near the time Lily appeared. "Yes, I do," she replied quietly. "Sirius was right all along." It was painful to say his name.

She lifted her eyes from the ring. It was nothing more than an heirloom now, with the Timekeeper destroyed there was nothing left for it to call to or make a connection with. Lily was stuck.

Tom let his head fall, running his hands back through his hair.

"I'm making a cup of tea," he decided, as if using it as a means of escape. "Milk, sugar?"

They both accepted, needing something to occupy their hands even if they couldn't bring themselves to drink it.

After handing them their mugs, Tom went back to linger in the doorway to the kitchen. "I'll make us some dinner. I don't know about you, I can't function on an empty stomach." Before he left he set his dark eyes on Lily. "We'll get you back," he promised, "One way or another."

.o.

As she sank down onto Lucy's bed in Tom's spare room, a small line formed in the middle of Lily's brow.

"I just had the strangest thought," she said, "I could actually meet myself here, couldn't I? My future self, I mean."

Lucy took a seat on the office chair stored next to the headboard and stared back at her, unsure of how to reply. No. Lily would never be able to meet her future self, because her future self did not exist. She had already been murdered twenty four years ago.

She opened her mouth to speak but Lily let out a groan and squinted her eyes shut, unwittingly saving her from responding.

"Unh, my brain hurts," she moaned, placing a palm to her forehead. "I can't think about this right now. I keep hoping I'll wake up and it will have all been a nightmare. I might try and sleep until dinner, if that's okay? It's no use me just sitting here getting worked up while I wait. I'm so exhausted."

"I'll come and fetch you when it's ready," Lucy replied. "We can have a proper talk then."

She looked down at Lily kicking off her shoes and retreating into the comfort of the bed covers, and felt a pang of guilt. If Lily thought she was dreaming now, then she had no idea what was to come. Lucy had been given a second chance to tell her everything she knew about their lives, and now it was just a matter of time.

.o.

A light clattering of plates came from the kitchen and when she walked through the doorway Tom had his hands in the sink, elbows deep in washing up suds.

Hearing her approach he looked over his shoulder.

"Dinner's in the oven," he said. "Made with my own fair hands. Never did like using magic for everyday chores. Feels like cheating, somehow." He nodded upstairs, "How's she doing?"

"She's sleeping off the effects of the time-travel," Lucy replied, leaning her lower back against the counter next to him. "She's not in a good way."

"No wonder, " Tom replied, tipping the excess water from a glass and placing it on the drying rack, drying his hands on a tea towel.

"Listen, I've been thinking," he said, turning to face her, "I don't think we're going to have any other choice but to go to the Ministry about this. We're messing with serious magic here. It was different with you, you belong in this time. If Lily doesn't get back…anything she might have done from that day to this, any children she might have had in that time, any achievements or lives she might have had even the slightest of impact on, all of it will be wiped out. Who knows what repercussions that will have? It's unthinkable."

"You're right," Lucy replied.

Tom seemed surprised she agreed with him so readily.

"I am?"

"Lily's important. We have to get her back as soon as possible."

Though she genuinely agreed with Tom, Lucy also had an ulterior motive for wanting Lily's swift return to 1977; if she told her about the awful things set to happen in their future then perhaps Lily could warn everyone else when she got back.

Tom's brow furrowed and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Do you know something I don't?"

She looked away from his searching gaze, trying to buy herself time. Could she tell him? Would it compromise anything if she did?

"No, 'course not," she replied eventually. Tom didn't need to know. She couldn't risk him trying to stop her from warning them about the books. Whether she liked it or not, this was on her shoulders.

"Alright then," Tom replied, clearly unconvinced. He gave a sigh. "You know you can talk to me, right? We're family now whether we like it or not. I'll always be there for you if you need me." He raised a hand as if to touch her arm reassuringly but thought better of it, bringing it to a rest on the unit next to him.

Lucy released a breath she didn't realise she had been holding. With her father moving in and out without notice, it was an odd feeling to hear someone tell her he would always be there for her to turn to.

"You're a really good man, Tom. I'm so pleased I got to see you again." She tried to control her rising emotion, pretending to rub the sleep from her eye in order to get rid of the moistness that had settled there.

Tom's eyes studied her as if he could read her thoughts. She looked down in an attempt to stop the awkwardness descending on them, not wanting him to see her weakness. The next thing she knew she felt her face squashed against the front of his soft jumper as his large arms enveloped her in a hug.

"I'm happy I got to see you too," he said, placing a hand on her head and drawing her to him, rubbing her back comfortingly. He considered it for a second, "Granted, I wouldn't have expected it to happen _quite_ like this, but then you always were trouble." He smiled down at her, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

Lucy closed her eyes. He didn't understand why finding him could possibly mean so much to her.

When they pulled apart she said, "Thanks for everything," putting as much heartfelt meaning into the words as she could manage.

The fine lines on Tom's face crinkled slightly as he smiled.

He moved to wrap a single arm around her neck, but this time he turned it into a headlock and knuckle dusted the top of her head.

"You're welcome, Luce," he said, chuckling at her protests.

.o.

An hour later, Lucy woke Lily for dinner as promised. As they ate their food they told her of their plan to alert the Ministry of Magic.

Though Lily was hesitant at first - fully aware of the terrible repercussions illegal time-travel could have on her permanent record- she could see that without a miracle there was no alternative.

After they finished eating, she went ahead upstairs while Lucy held back to help Tom clear the table. They were going to travel to the Ministry first thing in the morning.

After washing the dishes in relative silence and bidding Tom goodnight, Lucy made her way back up to the bedroom. Unbeknownst to Lily, she was practising their upcoming conversation in her mind, imagining how she might make Lily understand.

 _Your lives are a part of Muggle fictional books_.

 _I know how you're all going to die and I don't know if I can prevent it._

A throb of pain shook her. Why was she the one chosen to go to Hogwarts in the first place? She wasn't special. Why should she have to deliver this news?

There was no right way of telling someone that their life and the lives of their loved ones would be destroyed before they reached their mid-twenties.

.o.

When she got back in the bedroom the lights were all off.

She could see from her outline that Lily had got back into the double bed. Her soft breathing permeated the quiet of the room, the side of her shoulder moving up and down in a gentle rhythm. She was fast asleep.

Lucy changed in silence into the t-shirt and shorts that Tom had lent her and went over to the bed. Lily's face looked peaceful, with no sign of the worry it had previously had. It seemed beyond cruel to force her awake only to add to her burden even further.

After wavering for a minute, Lucy climbed into the bed. It would just have to wait until the morning. Perhaps it was for the best; Lily might be better prepared to cope with what she was told.

Telling Lily herself would mean that Lucy would not have to admit to the Ministry about her plans to alter their fate at all, and it could be done well before their departure.

Though she was acutely aware that doing it this way would mean she would never have a hope of seeing Sirius ever again, it would also get rid of the risk of the Ministry officials turning her idea down - or worse, clearing her memory of Hogwarts altogether so that she could never help them.

If she wanted them to survive she knew that it was finally time for her to stop thinking of her own best interests, no matter how much it hurt.


	23. Countdown

**Chapter 23**

 **Countdown.**

"We're going to Professor Dumbledore," Remus stated, getting up and throwing his book to the table. Peter flinched back from the unexpected outburst, the tossed book skidding along the table towards him. Lily had just disappeared right in front of their eyes, and all they could do was watch.

"I can't count the number of times we've fooled around with things we have no business interfering with," Remus continued, unable to ignore his friends' behaviour any more. "This is the culmination! _This_ is what we get for the reckless decisions – affecting the person who deserves it least. I've had enough!"

James stared blankly at the smashed glass of the Timekeeper still spread across the floor, left speechless by what had happened.

Noticing his silence, Sirius stepped in. "If we tell Dumbledore we'll all be in trouble, including Lily," he argued. "He expressly told us not to mess about with it anymore. We'll all either end up expelled or arrested for this, is that really what you want, Moony?"

Remus looked deflated. "Of course not," he said impatiently. "In fact, while we're on the topic, maybe you could explain why you still had the Timekeeper in the first place? Based on the fact Dumbledore 'expressly told us not to mess around with it anymore.'"

All eyes now fell on Sirius. James had originally found it in his friend's possession.

Sirius became immediately defensive, his entire posture changing. "Don't start pointing the finger at me!"

"You'd been trying to bring her back, hadn't you?" Remus said. Everyone knew exactly who he meant by 'her', and it wasn't Lily.

"This is ridiculous," Sirius snapped. "I don't have to listen to this. In case you've forgotten it wasn't me who sent Lily to Merlin knows where."

James looked hurt.

Sirius let out a short breath. "Sorry, Prongs," he muttered.

"I suppose there's no use playing the blame game now," Remus shook his head. "What's done is done. What matters is what we do next."

"But if we don't go to the Headmaster for help, what should we do?" Peter asked, looking to Sirius for the answers.

When he didn't reply, Remus raised an eyebrow. "You have no idea, do you?"

"Stop," James said, taking them all by surprise. "Just stop. Padfoot is right. I won't risk Lily facing punishment along with the rest of us."

Remus's forehead furrowed, "I think you're making a mistake, James…"

"She doesn't deserve to have illegal time-travel on her permanent record, Remus," James replied. "I'll get her back, I'll do it myself."

"If that's what you think is best," Remus said slowly. "I'll give it until tomorrow."

"And after that?" Sirius demanded.

Remus inclined his head, "And after that I will be forced to tell a member of staff." Before Sirius could even try to dispute this, he continued, "Lily could be in real danger here, we don't even know where she is. We'll be doing her no favours keeping this to ourselves any longer than that. I'm sure even James would concede that."

"Right then," Sirius said. "What are we waiting for?"

.o.

 _Saturday, 15/12/1977._

 _23 hours until Remus informed the Headmaster:_

"Anything?" James called over his shoulder, his eyes scanning the hundreds of book spines on the library shelf.

Each of his friends answered in the negative.

An hour had passed since Lily had disappeared and they had started their quest to get her back in earnest. They had moved to the Restricted Section of the library early on after realising just how unhelpfully censored the rest of the books in the main collection were.

They had been through countless works on Portkeys, Time-Turners and Other Worlds. They had skimmed through hundreds of pages worth of jargon and generally wild assertions about other dimensions -including one about a world that was run entirely by cats.

After searching for what had felt like hours on end, Sirius finally uncovered something that could be considered even remotely relevant; a grand total of one book containing information on the sands of time. They huddled around and flicked through the pages eagerly.

James let out a frustrated gust of air and slammed the book shut. "This is pointless. There is nothing here." It contained nothing more than vague theories. The sands of time seemed to be a long forgotten phenomenon.

He rumpled his already chaotic hair in frustration and Peter looked across at him helplessly.

"We need to _do_ something," he cried. "Take action. All this reading is getting us nowhere."

At the sudden noise, Madam Pince poked her head furiously around the corner. "If you can't study quietly, you're going to have to leave," she hissed.

Remus held his hand up apologetically. "We'll be good."

.o.

 _19 hours until Remus went to Dumbledore:_

"Sirius, you found the Timekeeper in the Room of Requirement," Remus mused, chasing a train of thought.

The three boys had sat around a table in the main library in an attempt to come up with a more fruitful plan.

"If the Timekeeper's smashed, why it doesn't matter where it came from?" Peter asked.

"So you think it's worth going back in there to see if there's anything else?" Sirius asked Remus, ignoring Peter's question.

Remus looked back at him as if deep in thought. He seemed like he was about to say something he would regret.

"As much as I hate to say it, I think we're all out of other options."

Without wasting another second of time, the four boys made their way out into the high arched stone corridor, trying their best not to attract any unwanted attention.

Sirius whistled casually as he walked, casting a watchful eye around him for any onlookers. They had just reached the seventh floor corridor when, without warning, he flung his arms out causing Remus and Peter's chest to bash against them. James managed to stop just in time to avoid the assault.

"We're here," Sirius stated.

"You could've just asked us to stop," Remus muttered tiredly.

They had come to a halt near a painting of a clash of trolls practising ballet.

Grimacing at the picture, Sirius turned to his friends. "Ready?"

He focused on the area of wall he knew The Room of Requirement to be concealed behind and walked back and forth two more times, picturing the hidden objects department in his mind.

As if by magic a door shimmered into view.

"Let's go," James whispered, taking one last furtive glance around them.

"Did you say you found the Timekeeper next to an old statue head?" he asked, as they looked around at the insurmountable collection of objects that now surrounded them.

"Over there!" Peter pointed excitedly, gesturing to a pock-marked stone bust of an old warlock.

"Well done, Wormtail," Remus humoured him.

Making their way over to the area near the statue, they began to search for something, anything that might be of use to get Lily back.

In his desperation James picked up an ancient looking tiara, but set it hastily back down. There was something about it that sent an unpleasant shiver trickling down his spine.

"What about this?" Peter asked, holding up a dusty orb.

"It might be an idea to split up," Sirius called out, "we can cover more ground that way."

"Wait a minute," Remus said, halting him, "Peter might be onto something."

James's hazel eyes moved expectantly towards him.

"Give it here," he instructed, gesturing at the object in his hand. Peter passed the small glass globe obediently over.

"Look inside it," Sirius said. A whisper of white swirled in one teasing revolution at the core and then disappeared.

"Sand," James stated. An eager shock raced through his heart.

"But it's white sand, not black like the stuff in the Timekeeper," Peter pointed out. "Do you think the colour matters?"

"I doubt time-travel is colour selective," Sirius stated dryly. "I hope," he added, more to himself.

.o.

 _15 hours until Remus went to Dumbledore:_

They rushed back into the Gryffindor Dormitory with their new-found hope clutched tightly in James's hand.

"Move," Sirius ordered a group of awed first years, who had made the mistake to sit on the Marauders preferred plotting seats in the far corner of the room furthest away from prying eyes. Peter pointed importantly to the Head Boy badge on James's chest and the young group scurried away.

The boys took an armchair each and all turned their attention to the orb.

"You rubbed the Timekeeper, didn't you, Padfoot?" Peter said helpfully.

James looked up at him questioningly.

"When it brought that Muggle here," Peter explained, "He rubbed it. It's what started the sands off inside."

James looked impressed. "Good memory, Pete."

Peter's chest puffed proudly at the recognition.

James rubbed the glass, his hand becoming more furious as it refused to bend to his will.

.o.

 _Sunday 16/12/1977_

 _5 hours to go:_

Remus felt himself regain consciousness.

A babbling noise filled the Common Room and he suddenly realised it was daylight. They had fallen asleep in the early hours and somehow managed to sleep right through the night. Students were milling idly around them.

A group of second year girls had gathered around Sirius's sleeping form, pushing one another towards him as if egging each other on. They hadn't seemed to notice that Remus was awake and watching them.

"Go on, do it," one of them urged their smaller friend in a low voice. "I double donkey dared you so you have to."

The smaller girl looked terrified as she took the step over to Sirius, nudged forwards by the others. Reaching out a tentative hand she stroked the back of his hair.

The other girls erupted into a fit of giggles. "I can't believe you actually did it!" the original girl exclaimed. "What did it feel like?"

The smaller girl grinned back at them, pleased with her own bravery. "It's just as soft as it looks!"

"He's beautiful," another one gushed, leaning down to look more closely at his face.

Remus cleared his throat and sat up, and they all looked up at him before bursting into nervous laughter again and dispersing quickly away.

He nudged the others awake.

Peter slid up from the table, wiping the drool from the side of his face with his sleeve.

"Wha' happened?" he mumbled groggily.

"We fell asleep," James stated darkly, straightening his glasses.

"Where's the orb?" Sirius demanded, his eyes scanning the empty table. He looked accusingly around the Common Room and noticed the group of girls still staring at him from a safe distance across the room. They seemed to jump as one when he looked their way. "Reckon they took it?"

"Er, no," Remus replied. He craned his neck to look under the table and felt his foot roll against something on the floor. He reached down to grab it

Palpable relief washed over James as he took it from his hand. "Moony, I could kiss you."

Remus checked his watch, "We have just under five hours to get this thing to work."

.oOo.

Lily yawned and opened one eye. She let out a groan when she saw where she was. "I'd really hoped that this was all a nightmare."

"Sorry," Lucy muttered, pulling her jumper on.

"What time are we going to the Ministry?"

"Half twelve."

Lily squinted at the clock. "Five hours time."

Lucy adjusted herself and started to pull her hair loosely up into a bun. "There's somewhere I need to take you before we go."

"What?" Lily asked, confused. "Where? Do we really have time?"

"It's important."

Lily gave her a funny look.

"Please, Lily, trust me. I'll get us back here on time."

Lily studied her serious face. "Alright. Of course, if you're sure. I'll be ready in ten."

With Tom still asleep in bed they left the house quietly and stepped out into the biting frosty air.

"Are you going to at least tell me where we're going?" Lily asked.

"There's something I have to show you," Lucy replied.

They walked to her parked car just outside of Tom's driveway where she'd left it two days ago. Lily climbed in, peering around at the sea of old food packets littering the floor of the passenger side.

"Shell likes to snack," Lucy said, dropping into the seat next to her.

"Snack?" Lily said, marvelling at the sheer amount of it. "She could rival James." Her expression turned a little sad at the mention of her boyfriend.

"We'll be back in a couple of hours," Lucy reassured her.

They made good time, pulling up into the driveway of a white-walled house just under an hour later.

"This is where you live, isn't it?" Lily realised.

The way it was sandwiched between two other houses reminded her of the time James had shown her the Black's house, but it had none of the gloomy oppressiveness.

"Why was it so important that we came here before the Ministry?" she wondered.

Lucy twisted her key in the lock, "I'll show you," she promised again.

Lily looked around at her new surroundings. Lucy's house was a lot smaller than Tom's. In fact, it was so quintessentially 'Muggle' that it was hard to imagine a witch had ever lived here.

They mounted the stairs and took the first door on the left into Lucy's bedroom.

The walls were covered in a soft peach wallpaper embossed with tiny white swirls, with ivory built-in cupboards covering one of them completely from floor to ceiling. It looked like it could have belonged to any faceless teenage girl. There wasn't a single poster or photograph.

Pulling one of the tall cupboard doors open, Lucy revealed a large shelving unit hidden inside, filled to the brim with books.

"Sit down," she offered, gesturing at her bed.

Lily obliged, watching in curiosity as she selected several books with careful precision before pushing them into a fabric bag. Lucy turned back to her slowly, and her expression took Lily by surprise. It was as if someone had died.

Lucy sat down on the bed, and Lily watched her in fascinated silence as she tugged the strange bag of books onto the blankets. She noticed her hands were shaking slightly.

Lily looked across at her. "What's going on?"

Lucy's wide eyes stared unblinkingly back at her, as if readying herself for what she was about to do.

"I need to tell you something," she said. "It's something that I should've told you all when we first met. I've been _trying_ to, but-"

She took a steadying breath, fixing her attention firmly on the bed cover. "You're not going to believe me," she told the bed sheets.

"Whatever it is can't be as bad as the last two days I've had, surely?"

Lucy didn't answer her.

"I had heard of Hogwarts before I was brought there with the Timekeeper," she pushed the words out.

This was it. She was finally going to do it.

"And the reason I had heard of Hogwarts," she continued, "is because it is sold as a fictional story in Muggle books."

Silence rang out in the room, but she refused to look up.

"Is that all?" Lily laughed. "Lucy, it's not unheard of for Muggles to dismiss things they don't understand as fictional. Why are you so upset by this?" She reached a comforting hand up to her arm, but Lucy pulled away from it. She didn't deserve her sympathy, and Lily would realise that for herself soon enough.

"You don't understand," she replied. "It's not just a story that Muggles have made up because they've heard rumours about the school. I really wish it was as simple as that. These are stories about real witches and wizards."

"You're right, I _don't_ understand. Why was this so important that you had to bring me all the way to your house just to tell me about this?" Lily's voice was soft.

Lucy took a breath, gathering all the courage she could muster to continue talking. This was it. Rightly or wrongly, she was going to warn her about her horrible fate.

"They're about you, Lily."

She felt the bed shift infinitesimally, but she kept her focus on the bed cover.

"What do you mean they're about me?" Lily asked in an even tone.

"They're about all of you. James, Remus, Peter, Dumbledore, Sirius," her voice cracked on the last name.

"If this is some kind of joke, then it's not funny."


	24. Secret Keeper

**A/N: Really sorry this chapter is so late!** **Thanks so much to those who reviewed. I won't keep you waiting this long again. If you don't remember what happened at the end of the last one go have a sneaky peek, I'll wait right here.**

 **Chapter 24**

 **Secret Keeper.**

"It's not a joke. I wouldn't." Lucy's expression was stoic as she looked back at Lily. "There are characters with your names, described exactly like you. Like some kind of disguised history book."

Lily glanced at the bag full of books wrapped tightly around Lucy's wrist, only now realising their significance.

"Whoever wrote them knew you," Lucy continued. "Knew what you looked like, who your friends were, where you went to school. They know who you marry, your child's name…"

"My child's name?" Lily stopped her.

Lucy held her breath. She had said it without thinking. Not for the first time did she start to wonder if she was doing the right thing. But it was too late now, there was no going back.

"He's going to be really important," she replied softly.

Lily shook her head. "You shouldn't be telling me this. You don't know what you're doing."

"I didn't have a choice, I couldn't just-"

"Stop!" Lily's voice was as near to a shout as Lucy had ever heard it. "If this is true, if those books are real…" she looked at them as if they were an animate threat, "…you're meddling in our future, Lucy! I was never supposed to know this. Don't you know how _dangerous_ this could be?" She went to get up to leave. "Take me back to Thomas's house, I don't want to hear any -"

Lucy was desperate. "I can't just let you all die!"

.o.

Lily sat slowly back down, shocked into inaction.

Lucy knew this could be the only chance she would get. Taking advantage of the silence, she started to tell her the story of the rising Dark Lord – still a distant threat in the magical world's newspapers in Lily's time. She spoke of the merciless way he would settle a target on the heads of their young family, and how she and James would perish, leaving their young son to face the burden of defeating him alone.

Lily sat very still, statue-like, as she heard Sirius would be wrongly blamed for their death, and imprisoned for the next twelve years in Azkaban.

"Harry will be brought up by your sister," Lucy continued, talking quickly as though fearful she would be stopped, either by Lily or some intangible force sent to keep history unscathed.

" _Harry_." If she hadn't seen Lily's lips move, Lucy would have thought she had imagined her whispering her son's name. "I always liked that name." The corner of Lily's eyes had begun to fill with moisture. She wiped it away.

"Tell me how they end."

Lucy was caught unawares by the sudden force of the demand. "I don't know," she replied, her tone apologetic. "The last one hasn't been released yet."

With a calmness that Lucy could not fathom, Lily reached into her uniform robes and pulled out her wand.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to see my son. If he's out here somewhere, I'm going to find him."

Lucy seized her arm to stop her. "You can't do that."

Lily pulled firmly away.

"Think it through," Lucy said. "He'd be older than you. What would it do to him to have you show up like this?"

Lily didn't answer right away. "I only want to see him. Just once," she said softly. "It might be my only chance."

Lucy looked at her pityingly, but there was something different about Lily's expression. There seemed to a germ of an idea growing in her eyes.

Lifting her wand again, Lucy watched her as she spoke an unfamiliar incantation.

"Filius Revelio." Lily's voice was tentative, as if she wasn't really sure whether the spell would work herself.

Both girls were startled when something resembling a ghostly portal shimmered to life in front of them, suspended in the air as if on invisible strings.

It floated there with a clear, lake-like surface for a second, and then slowly a face began to appear in its midst. The face was blurry at first, as though looking through an unfocused telescope, and then it was as if the lens shifted, and the face became clearer.

It was a young man. His features were framed with messy black hair and glasses , his green eyes focused on something just outside of view. Whatever it was, he was smiling at it.

Lily let out a surprised sob. "He looks just like James," she breathed. "But his eyes, he has-"

"Your eyes," Lucy finished, watching in amazement. It was Harry.

Without thinking, Lily reached forwards to brush his face, but her fingers swept right through the image. It rippled beneath her fingertips.

"He doesn't know we're here?" Lucy asked.

Lily shook her head, her eyes still fixed on the image of her son.

The image gradually dissolved leaving them alone in the room once again.

"I'm sorry," Lucy said helplessly. "I'm so sorry."

This time a stray tear managed to escape and rolled down Lily's cheek before she could brush it away. She pushed her wand back into her robes and wiped the heel of her hand across her ivory cheekbone. "Why have you told me this? Everything in the books has already happened. Even if I went back, I wouldn't be able to change it."

"But if you know what's going to happen, you can change the decisions that lead up to it," Lucy said. "There must be a way. I would never have told you if I didn't think we could stop it." She wasn't sure if she believed her own words.

Dipping her hand into the bag still attached to her arm, she reached for the third book in the series; the one that told of Peter's betrayal.

She couldn't help but think of what Dumbledore would say if he knew what she was about to do.

"You have to listen to me carefully," she said, her fingers closing around the pages.

Pulling the book to the top of the bag, she went to take it out, but as she did her Grandmother's ring caught on the fabric of the strap. Dropping the book back in, she stopped to slide it off, passing it temporarily to Lily's reflexively offered hand.

As she turned her attention back to the book, she was startled when the bed gave a violent jerk. It began to shudder underneath them as if rocked by the hand of a giant. Lily had begun to take panicked breaths.

"I'm being pulled back," she gasped, clutching at the tugging sensation in her stomach.

Lucy went to throw the books off her arm to thrust them at her before she was taken, but the bag had become twisted around her wrist.

"Please," Lily started to snatch frenziedly at Lucy's clothes. "Just tell me, how do I fix it, what do I do? What do I have to do?"

"Your Secret Keeper," Lucy called quickly, panicked and trying to think faster than her brain would allow, attempting to condense the whole chain of events that led to their downfall into just the initial trigger. "Don't choose-"

As quickly as she'd arrived, Lily was swept from the room, leaving Lucy's answer lost to the sands of time.

.oOo.

James put the now placid white globe onto the table next to them and rushed over to pull the disorientated Lily from the floor. Though he didn't yet fully understand how the connection had been formed, the sands of the orb had worked for him.

He wrapped his arms around her. "I thought I'd lost you."

"I have to get back," she said immediately, having no time for his sentiment. "I saw her. I saw Lucy. We were wrong, all this time...she doesn't come from a different world. She's from our _future_. She was just about to tell me-" she stopped herself. "James, it's important," she said, forcing him to pay attention to what she was saying as he checked her body for injuries. "I need to get back there, I have to go back to her."

"Are you saying you didn't mean for this to happen?"

She looked across the room and saw that it was Remus who had spoken. He was stood over another figure, which was laid prone on the floor.

Staggering abruptly to her feet, Lily rushed over to the apparently lifeless body, long hair splayed haphazardly around it. "Lucy? Lucy!"

"Is she dead?" Peter asked nervously, giving Lucy's shoe a furtive nudge with his toe. Her foot moved back from his kick briefly, before settling back into place as still as ever.

Sirius crouched carefully down next to her, guiding two fingers to the soft area just underneath the line of her jaw. A few seconds passed. "She's breathing," he said.

Lily knelt on the floor next to him. "Please, wake up," she said desperately, placing a hand on Lucy's shoulder and shaking it.

Lucy's limp body rocked back and forth underneath the pressure, but there were no further signs of life other than her indiscernable breaths.

Sirius put a firm hand over Lily's to force her to stop.

"What happened?" he asked her.

She snatched her hand away. "We need to get her to wake her up," she repeated, avoiding his question.

James walked over to her and gently guided her up from the floor. "You're still disorientated."

He led her to a nearby chair. "Why don't you rest here for a second and let us see if there's anything we can do."

Before she could protest, she was stopped from saying any more by Remus pushing a block of chocolate in front of her face. "Here, eat this," he said softly, "it will make you feel better."

She took it reluctantly from his hand and put it into her dry mouth, where it sat untouched in her cheek.

"Does this mean we're going to miss dinner?" Peter asked, unable to keep the disappointment from his voice. His mouth had started to water at the sight of the chocolate.

Sirius looked back at Lucy. A faint line had started to form on her forehead. He murmured her name and the line grew deeper, her hand moving upward slightly as if to reach out for her head. He took the agitated appendage in his and watched her expression relax slightly.

"Sirius," she muttered quietly. Her eyes started to open, narrowing at him as if trying to focus.

"It's okay," he said in a low voice.

"What's that?" Peter asked, suddenly noticing the cream fabric bag lying partially concealed underneath a table next to them. Gathered around it, a collection of books lay upended.

"She brought them," Lily realised, forcing down what was left of the chocolate.

James bent down to pick one of them up off the floor. "The Order of the Phoenix," he read the title out loud. "Muggle fiction by the looks of it." He flipped the book over. "Harry Potter." He frowned. "Potter," he repeated. "Huh."

There was a shuffling noise in the background and they all turned around in time to see Lucy pushing herself up onto her elbows.

.o.

Lily led the way to Dumbledore's office, her red hair swaying furiously against her back.

"Licorice Stick," Remus said as they reached the stone gargoyle. The group stood very still as they ascended the moving staircase into the Headmaster's office. The already open door revealed him sat neatly at his desk, as though he had been waiting for them.

"Good afternoon," he greeted.

His expression seemed darker than usual, as though it was a reflection of theirs. Without a word, Sirius dumped the now full book bag onto the desk in front of him.

Dumbledore peered down at it. His keen blue eyes fixed on Lucy's, making her start.

"Miss Hamilton, you have been busy I see."

She shrank back a little from his soul piercing gaze.

"Is there something you feel I can add to what Miss Hamilton has already shared?" Dumbledore asked the rest of the group, his tone unfailingly polite.

"Our _names_ are in the books," James said, as if the Headmaster didn't understand the severity of the situation.

"We were hoping you could tell us why that is," Remus said.

"I cannot," Dumbledore replied.

"You already know about them?" Lily asked.

After a pause, Dumbledore replied, "I do."

She took a breath. "So they're real? These horrible predictions of our lives, they're really going to happen to us?"

Dumbledore settled his eyes on the desk in front of him, peering down at his clasped hands. "If there is one thing I would wish to impart on you all, it would be to remain mindful that no individual's fate is set in stone. If it has not yet happened, it can be changed."

"What does that mean exactly?" Sirius said, barely repressing his impatience.

"I would ask that you leave them with me," Dumbledore said, gesturing to the books, "and think no more of them tonight. We do not yet know the truth of them."

"Just pretend we haven't seen them?" James asked, as if he had missed something.

"Whoever wrote them knew us, and our world, frighteningly well," Lily said. "If they told the truth about our past, what would they possibly hope to gain from lying about our future?"

"If there is something to be learnt from them, I will make you aware of it when the time is right," Dumbledore replied, resolute. "Until that time comes, please try not to concern yourselves."

Picking up the bag, Sirius emptied its contents out on to the desk. Grabbing the book titled 'The Prisoner of Azkaban', he shoved it into the Headmaster's line of vision.

"I get thrown in prison for murdering my best friend," he said, his eyes blazing. "Framed. I'm not leaving until I find out who by."

Dumbledore glanced over at Lucy for the merest of seconds, knowing that she must know and surprised she had not yet revealed it.

In that one miniscule glance, she tried to tell him there was a very good reason for it and it was standing in the room with them right at that second, looking small and worried and afraid, and not at all capable of ruining the lives of his best friends beyond repair.

The Headmaster readjusted his gaze, focusing the full intensity of it onto Sirius.

"Please believe me when I tell you that I do not take any of this lightly, Mr Black," he said seriously. "Just as I am sure Miss Hamilton did not take her decision to bid a final farewell to her family and her friends lightly." His long hand swept gently in her direction.

Everyone glanced back at her, but she was as bemused as the rest of them.

"You wished to stay here, did you not?" he said. "That is why you returned to us without the means to get back to your time?"

James put a protective arm around Lily, who had gone as white as a sheet.

"I didn't-" Lucy started.

"It was my fault, Professor," Lily said, ignoring James's attempts to stop her. "I didn't mean to. I pulled her back with me."

There was an unmistakeable look of disappointment on Dumbledore's face.

Without a word, he walked from his desk over to a blank area of wall. After murmuring words none of them could make out, a silvery line began to etch itself across the stone in front of him, twisting at ninety degree angles until a rectangular shape was formed. The rectangular segment of stone swung outwards to reveal a hollowed out area concealing a decorative coffer. Grasping it carefully, he moved to place it on his desk.

The rest of the group looked on as, with a deft hand, he unlatched the lock and opened the casket. Inside was a fine golden sphere attached to a long golden chain. A minutely detailed hourglass lay embedded at the centre, surrounded by intricate dashes of what looked like runes.

"It can't be," James muttered.

Lily looked questioningly at him.

"My parents used to read fables about the three time-travelling Lords when I was a kid," he explained. "It had a picture of something that looked exactly like that."

"A Time-Turner," Remus murmured.

James nodded. "The Lords abused it to amass wealth and fame. Ended up erasing their own birth. Disappeared in a puff of smoke. I've never seen one in real life before. I thought they were just part of a children's story."

"That seems to be the theme of the day," Sirius said dryly.

"You should never discount a story," Dumbledore said, lifting the chain from the box. "Often there is a seed of truth to be heeded." He walked over to Lucy and placed it carefully in her hand.

"If you wish to return home you will need to work fast," he told her. "It is fortuity alone that this particular Time-Turner has not yet been uncovered by the Ministry. What with the disturbance that the sands of time are sure to have created around Hogwarts, I very much suspect this will change over the course of the next few days."

"Why can't she just use her ring and the glass thing we found like last time?" Peter asked.

"The sands of time only work in combination with one another," Dumbledore explained. "For it to be possible, Miss Hamilton's ring would have had to remain in her time while the Timekeeper was present in ours. Unfortunately it is clear that this is not the case."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "But you thought she'd made the decision to stay here permanently."

Dumbledore peered over his glasses at him. "Indeed, and I was mistaken. It was accident that brought her here again, not Miss Hamilton's own design. I was not fully aware of the situation."

James glanced at his friend, realising the implications of what the Headmaster had said. "I don't think that's what he meant, Professor," he said carefully. "You said she'd made the decision to stay in our time permanently, as if it was her decision to make."

Peter's mouth lay slightly open as he took the information in, his forehead puckered in concentration. "You mean she could stay here if she wanted to?" he said eventually.

Lucy stopped dead, waiting for Dumbledore's reply.

"The fact of the matter is she did not choose this path, and she desires to return home," Dumbledore answered. "I beg of you, do not complicate this further. Now," he said, before any of them could argue with him any more, "Lucy will need a companion in her journey home, entrusted to bring the Time-Turner back to us when its job is done."

"I'll do it," Sirius said immediately, taking them all by surprise.

Dumbledore's eyes moved towards him. "Very well," he said. "As it is sensible to leave a gap between such sizeable time-travel, you may leave tomorrow morning. As with many things, it does not come without consequences on the body and mind."

James shot Sirius a look of concern, but Sirius batted a careless hand, his bravado not quite reaching his eyes.

"Miss Hamilton," the Headmaster called before Lucy could leave with the others, "I would like a brief word, if you please."

Both Lily and Sirius paused in the doorway.

"I won't keep her long," Dumbledore told them.

"Come on," James beckoned to them.

They moved away, allowing the door to click shut behind them.

"Professor?" Lucy said, eyeing it regretfully.

"Attempting to alter fate should not be taken lightly," he said, standing in front of her. "In the future, I would hope you think more carefully before taking action of this magnitude. When placed in the wrong hands, information can be a dangerous, terrible thing."

"I know I shouldn't have told them," she said, "but I couldn't just let them die like that, not when I could stop it."

He studied her face, his eyes sorrowful. "I'm afraid it is not that simple."

She stared up at him, trying to ignore the strange feeling of unease beginning to settle in her stomach.

"If the information in those books is correct, it is already too late. You cannot alter events of the past, Miss Hamilton, however desperately you may long to."

"But if they know what happens to them, surely they can make different decisions?"

"If it has come to pass in your time, it is already engraved in history," he said. "There is no changing it. Fate will always find a way around it."

Lucy couldn't believe what she was hearing. All of it had been for nothing. "So that's it? You're not even going to try?"

Dumbledore's calm facade flickered slightly.

"You may have undermined the last years of their lives with information they have no control over," he said.

.o.

By the time Lucy got back to the common room, Lily had already gone up to bed. A few small groups of friends, now back from dinner, were huddled at the various seating areas, chatting amongst themselves. They had no idea of the terrible events their futures held.

She spotted the Marauders sitting in the armchairs opposite the fire. Mustering courage she did not feel, she made her way over to them. They stopped talking as soon as she sat down.

Remus peered across at her a little guiltily, confirming her suspicion that they had been talking about her. "Well," he said. "Lot's to take in."

He delved a shaky hand into his pocket and pulled out a purple wrapped block. Working quickly, he broke off a chunk of chocolate and put it into his mouth, looking visibly calmer.

"Only you would be hooked on chocolate," James observed, shaking his head, "of all things."

"Some people have hallucinatory fungus, Remus has confectionary," Sirius commented.

James's mouth twitched. "It's just like Moony to get off on cocoa."

"Oh, very funny," Remus replied, hastily stashing the chocolate back into the security of his pocket.

They fell into an awkward silence, the only sound the crackling of the logs in the fire.

Sirius was the first one to break it. "You don't have to go back, Hamilton," he said in a low voice, "You realise that? It's your choice to make."

He kept his focus on the leaping flames in front of him, even as Remus shot him a look.

"Dumbledore said it himself," he continued in the same tone, leaning down to retrieve a stray piece of kindling from the floor and tossing it into the fire.

Lucy looked around at the other boys for their reaction, but the only one that would meet her eye was James. He put a hand to the back of his neck and drew his eyes away.

"Er, maybe we should go to bed," he suggested, looking at Remus and Peter. "Come on, Pete," he said, when the smaller boy didn't take the hint.

Peter followed Remus and James as they walked away. The tension seemed to grow the further away they got.

The orange firelight danced across one side of Sirius's face. From the angle he was sat at, the shadows it cast made the darkness of his pupils indistinguishable from the usual steel-grey colour of his eyes. It made it almost impossible for Lucy to tell what he was thinking.

"Did you know about those books when you first came here?" he asked. Like his face, his tone was unreadable, controlled.

"How could I tell you your lives were a part of Muggle fiction?" she said. "Would you have even believed me?"

He gave a dry, humourless laugh, bending to toss another piece of stray kindling from the floor into the fire.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said. "Why did you decide now was the time to finally tell us?" He turned his shadowed, fathomless eyes towards her, demanding the truth.

When it became obvious she didn't want to reply, he lost his cool. "The others were right. You don't belong here. You can leave tomorrow with your conscience intact, that's what all this was about tonight, right? Making yourself feel better. Shifting the responsibility onto someone else."

"You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Then enlighten me. Or do I have to wait another three months for the answer?"

"It doesn't matter why anymore, I've shown you the books, haven't I? What more do you want from me?"

Sirius threw his hands out, "The truth! For once. You leave tomorrow, what have you possibly got to lose?"

Lucy felt the adrenalin flood her body.

"It shouldn't be this hard," he said, shaking his head. "Why did you suddenly decide to try and save us? What changed between then and now? "

"I fell in love with you!" The words left her mouth before she could stop them.

Sirius's expression froze on his face.


	25. The Final Goodbye, Part I

**A/N: Amazed by the response to the last chapter. Thank you!**

 **Chapter 25**

 **The Final Goodbye, Part I.**

The expression on Sirius's face was still frozen as if someone had snuck behind him and struck him with stupefy. Finally, he released a gust of air, visibly relaxing. "You really had me for a second," he said.

Lucy let her held breath seep slowly from her lungs; he thought she was joking.

"So your time-transcending love for me aside...?" he said, the shock making him momentarily forget his anger.

"I did it for Lily," she replied, thinking as fast as she could to cover her tracks.

Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"When she arrived in my time it was like I was given a second chance to do the right thing," she explained. "I knew I couldn't just leave her to – you know –"

He nodded slowly, accepting her answer. She couldn't just leave her to die.

"Trying to change the past is a serious offence in the wizard community," he observed grimly. "Azkaban-worthy. Surely you knew the consequences you might face when you showed her the books?"

Lucy didn't reply. She would think about what might happen to her when she had to.

"And yet you still did it?" he pushed her for an answer.

"It was killing me trying to keep it a secret," she admitted, keeping a tight lid on her jack-in-the-box of emotions that Sirius seemed intent on probing. "I couldn't ignore it when I got a second chance to help you – to help _her,_ " she corrected herself, " _Lily_ doesn't deserve a future full of loss and betrayal – I care about her too much."

His eyes examined her in a way that made her feel internally naked.

"I'm sure Lily's grateful to you for it," he said finally. He paused for a second, as if considering his next words carefully. "Even if she doesn't know the right way to say it, I'm sure she cares a lot for you too."

Lucy wasn't sure if they were still talking about Lily.

"Who knows," he got up from his seat, a levity to his voice that had not been there before, "if things had turned out differently I might have enjoyed taking you to see my mother. The Great Banshee versus a Muggle from the Future," he stretched his hands in front of him as if picturing it in bright neon lights. "Her reaction alone would have been worth it."

Lucy remembered the conversation she'd had with the older Tom in his living room, what felt like a lifetime ago now. "Except I'm not a Muggle. My mother was a witch."

Sirius's hands fell to his sides, his momentum stolen by the new information. "You're half-blood?" he said uncertainly, his brow creasing.

"I didn't know before," she stated quickly, pre-empting the suspicion that she had kept any other secrets from him. "My uncle told me two days ago."

A strange, faraway expression started to form on his face.

She started to become worried that she had revealed one secret too far. "What is it?"

His gaze moved towards her. "Nothing," he said reflexively, before seeming to think better of his answer. "I was just thinking about something Prongs said, about you not really belonging here, being better off in the Muggle world. I suppose it doesn't really work anymore…as a witch Hogwarts would be the one place you do belong."

Lucy felt something stir inside of her and knew she would never forgive herself if she didn't say it. "I've been thinking about what you said. About it being my choice whether or not I stay..."

"James was right about one thing," Sirius interrupted before she could say anymore, "Hogwarts aside, you belong in your own time."

Lucy closed her mouth, frowning at the sudden change of direction.

"Staying here, it would be like treading water," he told her. "All the things you were supposed to experience in your future, all of the new inventions you will see, everyone you will meet," he let his words linger meaningfully for a second, "You can't give it up to stay with people who might not even be around in a few years."

"What about my belonging at Hogwarts?"

"Unless it all really breaks beyond repair, I rather think Hogwarts will still around in your time, even if the rest of us aren't. No matter what happens, always remember that you tried to help us," he said firmly, walking over to where she was sat and extending a hand. "I'm going to miss you, Hamilton," he said as he pulled her to stand in front of him. The corner of his mouth quirked ever so slightly, "Even if you are the most frustratingly secretive person I've ever had the pleasure of meeting."

"It's my party trick," she replied distractedly, glancing down at their hands still entwined.

"If those books are to be believed you'll be glad you got out while you still can." Sirius's voice was low and earnest. It made her want to melt into his arms like a candle that had been lit on fire and then just forgotten about.

"In the books you would have told me to forget the rules and stay with you," she pointed out.

The corner of his mouth pulled ever so slightly upwards into his crooked grin, "Is that right?" He acknowledged what she had said with a tilt of his head. "What can I say, perhaps you've had a positive effect on me afterall?"

She closed her eyes briefly. "Why do you have to choose now to start being sensible?"

His familiar barking laugh filled her ears, and when she looked back at him she saw his handsome features feigning offense. "Are you saying I'm not the very definition of sensible? I'll have you know my sage decision making skills have been known to put even the likes of Moony to shame."

Her gaze drifted around his face to the ever-present light behind his eyes. The idea of never seeing any of it again made her heart ache more painfully than she thought it was possible to bear. Her searching eyes found his lips and found it impossible to pull them away.

He watched her, the confident smile edging from his face.

"Merlin help me," he breathed, his head unconsciously lessening the space that kept them apart. "I'm trying to do the right thing. Don't make me do something we'll both regret." Only a matter of seconds separated them from one another when a sudden interruption sent them reeling back.

"Lucy!"

When they looked over they saw that it was Lily, stood at the foot of the Head Girl's dormitory dressed in her pyjamas. Her concerned expression beckoned to Lucy to follow her back up to bed. It was already one 'o' clock in the morning.

"Caught by Lily, just like old times," Sirius quipped gently.

Lucy had to force herself to pull away from him.

"I'll see you in the morning," she said. She realised now that it didn't matter how many of these moments they shared, or how successfully she broke his willpower to stay away from her; he was never going to change his mind about her leaving, his relentless stubborness wouldn't allow it.

"Good night, Lucy," he replied, watching her leave.

.oOo.

The next morning saw a heavy curtain of fog descend over the castle, hanging as low down as if to touch the blades of dewy grass that paved the way across the grounds. It had provided a natural smoke screen around the small group as they approached the protection of the Boat House, which was particularly lucky as the hidden short-cut on the Grand Staircase had been far too crowded with milling students for them to use undetected.

Once they had reached the safety of the underground room, James, Peter and Remus stood around in a semi-circle on the opposite side to where Sirius's bike, Bertha, still lay concealed by the invisibility cloak.

Standing in the midst of his friends, Sirius draped the long chain of the Time-Turner around his and Lucy's neck.

James clapped him on the back. "Good luck, mate."

"Good luck, mate," Peter repeated, his voice unsteady.

"I'll be back before you know it," Sirius replied, making sure to maintain the carefree lilt to his voice. "Literally, in fact."

"If you aren't we'll head straight for Dumbledore," Remus promised, his hands in his pockets and his expression sombre.

"Cheers, Moony," Sirius replied. He looked to Lucy, who had not been able to look him in the eye since their conversation the previous night.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah." Even now she could not let go of the possibility of remaining at Hogwarts, 27 years before her own time.

What would happen if she refused to go home? Would Dumbledore alert the Wizarding authorities? Would she end up in Azkaban too?

Her thoughts were cut short when Sirius began to twist the gold dial on the Time-Turner. It was too late to think about the alternative now. She watched the boys standing around them disappear into a blur of colour and allowed herself to be swept away from them forever.

.o.

After the familiar spinning had stopped, she squinted one eye open. The darkness outside told her that night had already fallen in this time, and they were now completely alone.

"Well that was just as uncomfortable as it looks," Sirius remarked from directly in front of her, certain that it had taken a small piece of him as recompense.

After making their way to just outside of Hogwarts boundaries, they were able to apparate to her house unseen.

Lucy forced her rigid fingers to finally unlatch from the arms of Sirius's shirt and switched on the lamp that was now sat directly next to them. They looked around the eco-lit room.

"So this is your bedroom?" Sirius appraised it with a raised eyebrow. "It's very…"

"Boring?" she offered distractedly, removing the chain from around her neck.

"I was going to say minimalist. What's that on your arm?" he asked, noticing the smear of red across her forearm.

He looked up at her face to find the source. There was a trail of blood trickling down her upper lip.

She touched it tentatively, examining the fresh streak of red on her fingertips. "Nose bleed," she realised. "Dumbledore told us the time-travel would start to have side-effects, I suppose."

"At least you never have to go through it again," he murmured.

Wiping it hastily away with a tissue from the box on her desk, she glanced out of her window. The only car on their driveway was her own. Her dad had still not returned home.

With her mother's disappearance years ago and her father still gone, she would be left completely alone in the house when Sirius went back to his time. It was an extremely lonely prospect.

Her thoughts shifted to Tom – the only family she had left in her time that she could even hope to rely on. She made the instant decision that she would ask if she could move in with him, permanently. She would drive there tonight; beg him to take her in. He surely couldn't refuse her, not when she had no one else? With her aunt -his wife- missing, they could be there for one another, keep one another company.

She thought of the seventeen year old Tom back at Hogwarts, her friend. If she had stayed they could have grown up together. The absurdity of it hit her like a punch to the gut.

"I guess this is goodbye?" she said, trying to give a nonchalant smile that hid the way it felt like her insides were being ripped to pieces.

Sirius stepped forward and pulled her to him. He held on to her with a strength that threatened to break her control over the onslaught of tears that prickled at her eyes. She knew if she let even a single one fall she would risk hysteria at the unfairness of how it had all turned out. That was not how she wanted him to remember her.

He brought his mouth to the top of her head before he pulled away.

Looking at him one last time, she tried to commit the perfect angles of his face to her memory. His eyes, a shade of grey so alive with intelligence it made her wonder how she could have ever doubted he was real, were now filled with an unrecognisable emotion she had never seen in them before. With nothing left to say, she forced herself to leave the room, leaving him to make the journey back home alone. She couldn't watch him disappear in front of her with no hope of preventing it.

As she made her way downstairs, with no one around to see, she allowed the tears to run freefall down her face.

The sound of the back door that led out to the garden opening and closing made her freeze in place, her anguish taking a temporary back seat to shock. There was someone in the kitchen.

Her father was finally back, she realised with a jolt.

Wiping the tears quickly with her sleeve, she tried to regain instant composure, peering through the swirled glass panes of the slightly ajar kitchen door. Without the lights on in there it was impossible to see. Her hand lingered on the door handle, but something made her pause.

Instead of opening the door and leaving herself completely in view of whoever it was, she slid a tentative hand through the small gap, flicking on the kitchen light. A blurred figure came into view through the textured glass. Though they were still stood over by the back door, they seemed to be looking in her direction.

She felt suddenly afraid. Even through the hazy glass she was easy to see that it was definitely not her father.

Acutely aware that Sirius was now long gone and she was alone with the intruder, she thought frantically of the wand still threaded through her belt loop, but she knew that even if she tried to use it she would not yet be skilled enough to pose any real threat.

Swallowing her fear, she pushed the door open more fully, channelling every scrap of bravery she could from the rush of adrenalin now pumping around her body.

It swung back on its hinges to reveal a woman in her mid-forties. Long, dark blonde hair surrounded her like an aura, the pale skin of her face oddly flushed. Her green-hazel eyes peered back at Lucy like a deer caught in headlights.

Lucy's mouth went dry. She looked just like her.


	26. The Final Goodbye, Part II

**Chapter 26**

 **The Final Goodbye, Part II.**

Lucy was stood still as a statue, unintentionally holding her breath as she stared back at the strange woman in her kitchen.

She was waiting for the earth-shattering repercussions that a meeting with her future self would bring.

Without warning, the woman rushed towards her, causing her to flinch back from the sudden attack. But the woman's outstretched arms wrapped themselves around her in what she soon realised was a hug.

Lucy stood with her arms fixed at her sides, too shocked to move.

"Mom?" she spoke the unfamiliar word hardly above a whisper, not daring to believe it.

"I'm so sorry," Marie murmured into her hair, smoothing her hand over and over the crown of Lucy's head.

"I can't believe you're here," Lucy breathed, as if the sound of her own voice would wake her from the dream.

She had waited ten long years to see her mother again after she had walked out on them, and now here she was, in their kitchen, as if no time had passed at all.

Her mother craned her neck back to look at her, tenderly pushing a strand of hair back from her forehead.

"You've grown so beautiful," she said, her welling eyes shining brightly in the artificial yellow light of the kitchen.

"Where have you been all this time?" Lucy asked, trying to find something coherent to say that allowed her valuable time to study her mother's features.

Everything about them was strikingly similar to her own, it had been no wonder she had confused her for her future self.

Her mother had the same narrow nose, heart-shaped face and rounded cheekbones. Everything, right down to her hair and eye colour, was nearly identical. The only difference was Marie's once youthful looks had now been ravaged by time.

Her mother's previously full eyelids were darkly hollowed, giving her a slightly ghostly, mournful expression that Lucy suspected was an unfortunately permanent fixture.

Marie seemed uncomfortable, as if there was something she needed to say, but had no idea how to say it.

"Do you have anywhere we can sit?" she asked in a quavering voice.

Lucy guided them over to the dining table without really seeing.

It was all becoming too surreal for her to process; too much had happened in the last few months, too many impossible, inconceivable things.

The ever-present question niggled somewhere at the back of her mind even now, like an irritation she couldn't seem to get rid of; was _any_ of it actually real?

.o.

"You have to believe that leaving you was the last thing I ever wanted to do," Marie told her once Lucy was seated. "The choice was taken out of my hands. There was nothing else I could do."

Despite what her mother had said, she had not yet tried to sit down herself, as if she was still nursing the option of taking flight at any given moment.

"I know," Lucy said, trying to hide the bitterness in her voice. "Your family made you."

"My family…?" Marie asked, her temporary bewilderment causing her wringing hands to still.

"They thought you were worth more than a Muggle husband and a half-blood daughter," Lucy repeated what the older Tom had told her. "They forced you to leave us."

Marie blinked, shaking her head slowly.

"No, Lucy, that's not it at all," she said, taking a furtive step towards her before thinking better of it. "I don't know who told you that... Yes, my family pressured me to cut my ties, at the beginning at least, but I would have never let that take me away from you."

Lucy was confused. Everything she had managed to come to terms with in the last few weeks was changing again like a constantly shifting Rubik's cube. She had been so sure that her meeting with Tom had finally helped her to solve the puzzle.

"Then what was it?" she asked. "Why are you here after leaving us for _ten_ years?"

Marie's desire to stand was apparently overcome by the need to steady herself for what she was about to say, and she took a shaky seat.

"The day I left, I was given a warning," she started cryptically. "A person approached me, telling me a story about-"

"What does this have to do with anything?" Lucy cut in impatiently, sensing that, even after all these years, her mother was reluctant to just give her the straight answer she deserved.

"Please, just let me finish," her mother begged, her expression plaintive. "Just listen until the end and then I promise I will answer every question you have."

Lucy looked coldly back at her, but didn't say anything else, waiting for her to get on with whatever it was she was trying to say.

"That person told me a story," her mother continued resolutely, "about a terrible Wizarding war. It would terrorise everyone. Wizards, witches, Muggles, creatures," she listed passionately, "no one would be safe. They said they knew all of this because they had heard a prophecy." She shifted uncomfortably on her wooden chair, as if just sitting was costing her valuable energy.

"The prophecy said that the war could only be stopped by a group of fledgling witches and wizards," she continued in a quieter voice, as if the walls themselves had ears. "This could happen in one of two ways; one would require the young group to pay an horrific debt with their blood and the blood of many, many others to come, leaving their kin to continue fighting and perishing in their place. The other way," she paused momentarily, "would require a message of warning to be passed to them at precisely the right moment."

"Stop it," Lucy snapped, her pulse quickening as she realised the group of 'fledgling witches and wizards' her mother was talking about.

"But all of this -every last thing the messenger would go on to do—would depend on a continuous loop of events playing out; a chain reaction," Marie continued undeterred.

"I've dreamt of seeing you again for so long," Lucy said. "Why are you saying all of this?"

"Because it's the truth, my love," her mother replied, her voice steadier than it had ever been before. "I was told that if I didn't leave, you would never have the chance to play your part as the messenger. You would never have the chance to warn them about what was to come. And don't you see, Lucy," she said, desperately trying to make her understand, "I couldn't just let all of those innocent people die like that. I needed to be a person you could be proud of, even if it cost me, us, dearly. Hogwarts had to receive that warning."

Lucy's mind was floundering. The disorientation from the time-travel was still clouding her thoughts like thick padding pressed between her synapses.

She knew that none of this could be true; a prophecy that involved her? It was absurd.

But then, she wondered, how else could her mother have possibly known where she had been these last few months?

Unless this person in front of her wasn't really her mother at all. Thanks to the books, Lucy was well aware of what the Polyjuice potion was capable of.

Perhaps this was someone sent from the Ministry of Magic, trying to force a confession out of her about what she had done; sharing confidential information about the future, not to mention illegal time-travel.

But the look of pure guilt and sorrow on Marie's face told her that wasn't true.

"Why would you need to leave us for that to happen?" Lucy asked, feeling the familiar salty prickling sting her eyes. She pressed the heel of her hand into them. "I would have been a stronger person, better prepared if you had just stayed and told me what I had to do. _Ten years_ ," she cried. "I've needed you so badly."

She was annoyed to hear how helpless she sounded, as if she had reverted back to the same seven year old child her mother had abandoned.

"My being here would have restricted your desperation to escape, to dream of other realities," Marie said. "If I had stayed, you would have _never_ been able to make the journey to the school."

"It was the Timekeeper and Grandma's ring that took me there! It was nothing to do with me or anything I did!"

"But you're wrong," Marie said simply. "The sands of time in the Timekeeper -and those bound into your Grandmother's ring- they don't work on a contented mind. Only restless souls looking for unquenchable comfort can unlock their potential."

"So the only reason I was able to get there is because my life is so tragic?" Lucy breathed a humourless laugh. "How could you knowingly do that to your only child? You left me to be miserable, on _purpose_."

Marie didn't answer, looking across at her forlornly.

"Why _me_?" Lucy shouted, frustrated that her mother wouldn't fight back. "There are loads of unhappy children out there. Why did my parent have to be taken just so I could do what thousands of others could have done?"

"Why any of us?" Marie answered helplessly. "I understand that it's hard for you to make sense of this, but because you have already done it, it can only ever be you."

"You said someone just came up and told you all this," Lucy said. "How did they know I would want to go to Hogwarts so badly in the first place? How could they have known I would even _have_ the books to pass them on?"

"They knew because you have just told me," Marie answered.

"You're not making any sense!"

"The words of those books speak to most," Marie said, her voice placating. "Their tales of magic and joy, humour and indescribable pain. How could you, a child with no mother and a distant father, avoid being drawn into them? In every good story there is often a seed of truth to be heeded. Those books were always a warning disguised as a fiction, a prediction of one of many paths that life at Hogwarts could take without outside interference."

A veil of calm swept over Lucy. Something Marie had said had struck an all too familiar chord.

"Who told you about the prophecy?" she asked slowly. "Who would have possibly been able to convince you about all of that?"

Marie looked back at her. "I can only tell you that it was someone I trusted – that I trust—explicitly. With my life."

"So it's all over now?" Lucy asked. "Just like that. We can live a normal life together?"

Regardless of the awful things that they'd had to go through to get there, they had played their part now. Surely now they could finally all be together. Lucy would have her father, her uncle Tom, and now her mother. They could all finally be together. A family.

"It's all over," her mother confirmed, a little of the lost light returning to her eyes even as Lucy looked on.

She swallowed her tears, her mouth turning upwards in disbelief. She rushed forward to meet her mother's waiting arms. Marie felt fragile as a bird against her own firm body.

There was a faint scuffling noise in the doorway, but Lucy didn't notice it, focusing on her thoughts of the future. The Christmasses and birthdays they would all get to spend together. It would be the only thing making losing Sirius bearable.

"Goodbye, my precious girl," Marie whispered in her daughter's ear, her arms still wrapped securely around her.

Lucy turned her head a little to look at her.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her heart faltering. "I thought we were going to be a family again."

Marie moved back, keeping a hold of her hands.

"All these years I imagined what our lives would be like when I finally returned home. As much as it hurts, I don't think our paths were ever destined to meet for very long," she said, her voice wavering. "I can see now that I will never be able to fill the missing part inside of you. You don't need me anymore. You've grown into a confident, capable young woman all on your own. Perhaps it was enough that I got to see that."

She placed a soothing hand on Lucy's cheek. "You've played your part, my love, and I couldn't be prouder. But there's one last decision for you to make, and I'm afraid it will not be an easy one. You have to decide who you want to stay with."

"You mean go back?" Lucy frowned, scared of the way her mother was making it seem like they would never be together. "It's already too late," she told her. "I missed my chance."

Marie's eyes moved towards the door. "Then who's that?" she asked softly.

.o.

Lucy turned around to find Sirius standing in the doorway of the room.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked him in astonishment.

"I heard voices," he said, his expression conflicted. "I thought you might be in trouble."

"And when you realised she wasn't?" Marie asked curiously, "What kept you here?"

Ignoring her question, Sirius kept his focus on Lucy.

"Do you believe her?" he asked, not seeming to care that he was talking about someone who was in the same room.

"I understand your doubts, Sirius," Marie answered him before Lucy could, surprising them both with her knowledge of his name, "But I'm her mother. You can't even begin to understand the sacrifices a mother would make, what she would do to make sure the world was a safe place for her child to live in."

"You're right," Sirius replied, levelling her with a dark gaze, "I can't. But I understand enough to know mothers are just as capable of deceit as anyone else."

"I know you, Sirius Black," Marie said. "I know more about you than you could ever begin to imagine. And I know you're far too intelligent to doubt a single word of what I've said." She shook her head sadly. "You have the potential to grow into a great man. If only you could just learn to stop being so very pig-headed."

In one of the few moments in his life, Sirius seemed too shocked to reply.

"You don't need to say it out loud," Marie said shrewdly. "I can see how you really feel about my daughter. It's as clear as the nose on your face." She pointed a delicate hand inwards, holding it to her chest. "I _had_ to leave the ones I loved to protect them. You don't need to make any such decision, you have a choice. All you have to do is swallow your pride and ask her."

Lucy furrowed her brow, looking to Sirius for an explanation as to what her mother was talking about.

"What kind of person would it make me if I did that now you're here?" he demanded, not meeting Lucy's gaze.

"She deserves the truth," Marie stated.

Sirius's jaw clenched. "I won't do it."

"Then you're making a mistake," she replied. "And I was right about the pig-headedness."

"And that's something I'll just have to live with," he said, lifting the Time-Turner from inside his shirt and starting to turn the dials.

"Dumbledore said it had to be my choice," Lucy remembered, thinking back to what the Headmaster had inadvertently revealed to them in his office. He had tried to take it back, but it had been too late, they had all heard the possibility.

"Stay where you are," she ordered Sirius firmly, glancing over at him to make sure he wasn't still trying to escape.

"Yes, sir," Sirius muttered, raising an eyebrow, stopping with the Time-Turner still held in his hand, its necessary revolutions only half complete.

Lucy moved towards her mother, crouching down in front of her still seated form.

"I'm so sorry," she said in a low voice, echoing her mother's first words to her in what seemed like a cruel twist of fate.

She knew she would have to be the one to apologise now, because it was _her_ that would be leaving this time.

It was clear to her now that Marie was right; the chance for their mother-daughter relationship had long since passed. She would never experience the joy of growing up knowing what it was like to have maternal love and friendship, and it wrenched on her core more painfully then she thought she could bear.

But staying here now wouldn't change any of that. Those years were lost. Forever. They would never be able to reclaim them.To try would risk the lives of everyone she cared about at Hogwarts.

But deep inside, Lucy knew where she really belonged now, she could feel it somehow, and her place wasn't here, regardless of how difficult it was to admit it out loud or how selfish it made her feel.

Dumbledore had said it would have to be her decision, and now she knew what she had to do.

"I couldn't be more proud of you, Lucy," Marie replied in understanding, looking down at her daughter with a soft smile warming her face, despite the telltale moistness sitting along her lashline. "All I've ever wanted is for you to be happy."

Lucy embraced her, closing her eyes and breathing in the comfort of her mother's faintly perfumed scent that she thought had been lost to her distant memories.

"You're exactly what I hoped you'd be," she whispered into the side of her hair.

Marie held onto her tighter in response. "I love you, my strong, beautiful girl."

"I love you too, mom," Lucy said, her voice uneven. Though the word sounded unnatural on her lips, she knew it would be one of the first and the last times she got to say it.

When Marie released her, it was like a physical symbol of the end of their journey together, and both of them felt its significance.

Marie smiled ruefully at the ring still on Lucy's finger. "All of this trouble just from one little thing," she observed.

"You should take it," Lucy said, "It's your mother's after all, it's rightfully yours."

"Grandma would've wanted you to keep it," Marie replied.

Lucy pulled the loose ring off her finger, "Like you said, it's caused me enough trouble for one lifetime. Maybe you'll have better luck with it."

Marie took it reluctantly. "In that case, I'll keep it safe for you," she promised. It slid snugly onto her forefinger as if it had always meant to sit there.

When Lucy held her now bare hand out to Sirius, he looked down at it uncertainly.

"We might not be able to change our story," he said, "Do you really want to be around if we can't?"

"I belong there, Sirius," she replied, knowing that it was true as she said it. "Besides," she added with a small smile, "It's my decision to make, remember? Unless you want to get rid of me?"

Sirius peered down at her, a roguish glint appearing in his eyes. He placed his hand on top of hers, closing his long fingers around it.

"Well if we're going to openly defy authority, I suppose you had better hold on tight," he transferred her grip to his waist ready for their take off.

Lucy faltered slightly, "We have to go right now?"

She turned to look at her mother; they had only just been brought together again. Surely there was time to talk, or eat together first. Just to have one last meal before she left for good. Lucy had imagined being able to show Marie off to her father, to reunite him with his wife and be able to watch his face turn to happiness in a way that it hadn't for a very, very long time.

Sirius looked at the two of them in what seemed like a wordless apology. "Dumbledore made it clear; we need to be quick. The Ministry could be at Hogwarts even now, if they find out we have one of their Time-Turners, that we've been using it to change history, nowhere is safe. Not even here. They _will_ follow us, Lucy. We don't want to risk your family being caught up in this."

He looked down at her conflicted face.

"You don't have to come, you know," he said. "You can still stay here, be with your mother and father, live a _normal_ life."

Lucy couldn't bring herself to answer right away. Not for the first time, she cursed the situation she had been put in. It wasn't fair that she had to make this decision. It was even less fair that it had to happen right this second, without time to get used to it or properly think.

Sirius took her hesitation as his answer. He wasn't going to force her to say it out loud, regardless of how he felt about it, or about her. He would just quietly disappear, and leave her to be with her mother, as it should be.

Just as he was about to drop the chain back around his own neck, Lucy reached out to still his hand with hers.

"I'm not letting you go," she said firmly.

She remembered how it had felt when she thought she had lost him the last time; the countless failed attempts to make her grandma's ring reanimate and take her back to the school, and the sheer weight of the disappointment after each time. It had felt as if her body was breaking from it, and eventually it would pull her right down into the ground. She knew she could never stand to go through that ever again.

Sirius blinked at her, having expected their last words to be goodbye.

"There's just something I need to do first," she told him, "something that I need to find out."

"Is everything okay?" Marie asked. She had sat and watched them without saying anything. She knew this was a decision that only her daughter could make. Any influence from her could make things worse. She did not want to be the reason for her daughter's future unhappiness at losing the person she so clearly loved.

Lucy nodded. "Everything's fine, there's just something I need to know before I leave, I don't know if you'll know or..."

Her mother frowned in concern, "You can ask me anything, sweetheart."

"I just wondered," Lucy wavered, knowing that her next words could cause a massive amount upset to her mother if she didn't know what had happened while she was gone, "Do you know where your sister is?"

Tom had told her that his wife had gone missing while looking for her sister, Lucy's mother. Lucy knew that she owed it to Tom to at least ask, but she was also afraid of the answer. If her mother didn't know where Marion was, then that meant something awful had likely happened to her while she was in pursuit of her sister. Lucy held her breath, waiting for her answer.

"You know about Marion?" Marie asked, surprised. "Yes, I know where she is."

Lucy was taken aback that her question was answered so simply. "But then, where is she? Why did she leave Tom?"

"Marion turned up on my doorstep five years ago," Marie answered, staggered by how much her daughter knew. "She was the only one who didn't give up on me when I went into hiding. I hadn't told her where I was going, but when she found me like that I couldn't just lie to her, not to my sister. We had always been so close. When I told her about the prophecy she wouldn't leave me until I was ready to come home. I tried to convince her to go back to her family, I really did. She didn't want to leave me alone."

"Where is she now?" Lucy hardly dared to ask. "Is she okay?"

"She went back home, my love, just like I have. She's back with her husband."

"Tom's got his wife back," Lucy realised, feeling a rush of elation soar through her body.

Her mother smiled back at her.

There was a deep, but muted cough in the background.

Lucy glanced back at Sirius. He looked agitated. She knew that he was imagining the very real possibility that the Ministry were seconds away from storming their little house and taking in all of its inhabitants to be put on trial.

"Still want to come?" he asked. There was a practiced nonchalance to his voice.

"Like I said, you're not getting rid of me that easily," Lucy replied. She moved back towards him and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.

He looked down at her and breathed a laugh despite himself. "I'm starting to realise that."

"Look after dad for me when he gets back," Lucy told her mother when Sirius had turned his attention back to the Time-Turner, "And please tell him I love him. I worry about him."

"I'll take care of everything," Marie reassured her.

"And tell Shell she was the best friend I could have ever asked for," she added in a rush, feeling a rising sense of panic that she would forget to say the right words and it would be too late.

"I'm going to miss you all so much," she realised, the weight of her decision starting to crush the doubt back into her.

But when her eyes locked with her mother's, she found that Marie's gaze was serenely content. She felt a sense of calm and assuredness wash over her.

"I'll always be here for you, Lucy," Marie promised. "Whenever you need me."

Her mother's voice was the last thing Lucy heard from her time.


	27. Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey

**A/N:** Quite a long chapter, let me know what you think!

 **Chapter 27**

 **'Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey.'**

"Thank Merlin!" James cried as the air began to shift in front of them, a sign that Sirius was finally returning. James's relentless back and forth pacing had made the last twenty minutes of waiting feel more like twenty hours for his remaining two friends.

They had been just moments away from alerting Dumbledore that the time-travel had gone badly wrong. It was a relief for all of them to find that the cause of Sirius's delay was clearly just a minor error made on the Time-Turner's dials.

"Please tell me that isn't what I think it is," Remus said, his sandy eyebrows pulling together as the blur of black and blonde started to materialise in front of them.

"What the bloody hell have you done this time, Padfoot?" James muttered, watching the now clear outline of two figures appear.

.o.

"Dumbledore said staying here was my decision to make," Lucy said defiantly as they made their out of the main entrance to the Boat House. "I've made my decision. This is what I want."

Though she would not admit it out loud, Remus's reaction alone had already made a shred of doubt creep back up on her about her coming back to Hogwarts like this. He could barely bring himself to look in her direction, and she could tell without him needing to say it that he thought they'd made a monumental mistake.

"You all heard him yourselves," Sirius agreed, looking each of them in the eye and daring them to contradict him. "He said she could stay if she chose to."

James rubbed his hand on his face tiredly. "You know I've always stuck by you, mate, no matter what, but I just can't…" he sighed and glanced at Lucy. "I just can't stand behind you on this."

There was a brief glimpse of hurt on Sirius's face as he looked back at his best friend, before his expression hardened again.

"What about her family, Padfoot?" Remus added quietly.

"How many times do we have to go over this?" Sirius demanded.

"I know what I've given up, Remus," Lucy answered. "I want to stay here."

"What if the books come true?" Peter asked in a small voice. "And we all die. Who will look after her?" Unlike the others, his seemed to be a genuine question rather than an attack.

James gestured a hand towards him. "Even Pete knows this isn't right," he said, exasperated.

Lucy studied the smaller boy in silence. He still had no idea that their deaths were all because of him.

"I'm not a pet," she said. "After school finishes, I can work. I can take care of myself."

She felt something familiar drip from her nose and took out the tissue from her pocket, a leftover remnant from her bedroom. She wiped the blood away from it as discreetly as she could. It looked like the additional round of time-travel hadn't let her get away scot-free.

"And anyway," she continued as if nothing had happened, hoping that no one had noticed and stuffing the tissue back into her pocket, "the books aren't going to come true. We're going to stop it."

"We don't even know if that's possible," James replied. "Dumbledore won't tell us anything about what's in them." He looked sideways at her. "Unless you know something you're not telling us, of course."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Remus murmured wryly underneath his breath.

Lucy stopped in her tracks, her feet stalling on the muddy grass of the grounds.

Remus looked slightly guiltily back at her, thinking her unwillingness to continue was a response to what he had said.

"I've just realised something," she said.

All four boys stopped walking now.

"It was Dumbledore," she stated, feeling as though the clouds had parted in her head. "We're the ones who are supposed to tell him to pass the prophecy on."

"If you could start making sense sometime soon that would be great," James said.

Lucy looked to Sirius. "It was because of us this whole time," she told him meaningfully.

James's wide, bespectacled hazel eyes moved to Sirius. "Care to fill us in?"

"How can you be sure?" Sirius demanded, his focus fixed on Lucy.

"Some of the words my mom used, explaining the prophecy of the books to me…" she replied, "She said there was a 'seed of truth' in every story. I knew I'd heard that saying before, I just couldn't think where until now."

Sirius's eyes narrowed in thought.

"That's exactly what Dumbledore said in his office when I mentioned the time-travelling Lords fable," James realised slowly. "But so what if your mum used that saying, what does that mean?"

"It means it really was Dumbledore," Sirius answered cryptically. "He was the one who first warned Lucy's mother about the books and the prophecy."

James still didn't understand, but the cogs were moving too quickly in Sirius's head for him to notice his friend's confusion.

"We need to go," he said.

Without another word, Sirius and Lucy both started to run back to the castle.

James held his hands out. "Am I the only one who has no idea what in Merlin's beard is going on?"

"I'll explain later," Sirius called over his shoulder.

Peter scratched his head. "Don't worry, Prongs. You have about as much of a clue as I do."

James looked him, not particularly comforted by the thought.

.o.

"Yes of course, I do apologise." Professor Dumbledore's polite voice wafted through the closed door of his office.

Sirius glanced back at Lucy as they approached it, putting a finger to his lips to warn her that the Headmaster wasn't alone. Moving as quietly as they could, they both positioned themselves just outside, moving their ears as close to the solid wood as they dared.

There was a second mumbling of a young, distinctly female voice inside. The higher pitch made it harder for them to decipher what she was saying.

"Of course, Miss Umbridge," Dumbledore's clearer tones rang out in reply to whatever it was the woman had said. Even through the door it seemed to be louder than necessary, almost as if it was meant for them to hear.

"Umbridge," Lucy repeated, her eyes sparking in recognition. Sirius's looked at her, asking for an explanation.

"We need to get out of here," she told him, the colour draining from her face. She kept her voice barely above a whisper.

Backing away from the door without a word, she hurried back down the spiralling staircase with Sirius close behind, both of them keeping their footfalls as quiet as possible. Once they were off the last step, he beckoned her around the corner - out of sight should anyone else descend it.

"Who's Umbridge?" he asked.

Lucy swallowed, trying to quell her rising panic. "Really bad news."

Sirius's grey eyes studied hers, as if trying to read her mind, wanting desperately to prise out everything that she had ever found out about their world.

Lucy could vividly remember the terrible things Umbridge had done in the fifth book, arguably more twisted and evil than any other character. She didn't know if the younger version was any less manipulative or deadly than the one in Harry's time, but she didn't want to find out.

She knew that she would have them all thrown in Azkaban without a second thought for even daring to think about illegal time-travel, let alone moving back and forth like they were catching a train.

"She works at the Ministry," Lucy continued, "I suppose she did even back then…or now," she said confusedly. She shook her head. "If she's here, it can't be for anything good."

"She's come for the Time-Turner," Sirius realised.

Lucy let out a breath of frustration. "If she gets it there's no way Dumbledore will be able to go back to tell my mother about the prophecy. I'll never get the chance to come here and warn you about the books."

Sirius pushed a hand back through his hair. He stopped suddenly and reached for the Time-Turner still hung around his neck. "Do you trust me?"

She moved her head as if it was obvious.

"Good, because I've got an idea. Don't worry," he added when he saw the hesitation on her face, "we're not going far this time."

She subconsciously touched her fingertips to the area underneath her nose, thinking back to the gory after-effect that any attempt at time-travel now seemed to have on her. If she was getting nose-bleeds, she didn't even want to stop to consider what damage it might be doing to her internal organs.

With no other choice but to try Sirius's idea, whatever it was, she reluctantly allowed him to place the Time-Turner chain back around her neck.

"Hope you know what you're doing," she said in a low voice.

The side of Sirius's mouth quirked upwards a little, "Have I ever let you down?"

.o.

Lucy felt her body shudder to a halt and re-opened her squinted eyes. They were in exactly the same spot as they had left off from, just around the corner from Headmaster's office.

"Did something go wrong?" she asked.

Sirius looked around him. "If my calculations are right, we should've gone back 24 hours, just before we first took the books to show Dumbledore. He should be alone," he added more pointedly.

They rounded the corner and retook to the staircase for a second time, using the password the Headmaster had previously given them.

"I actually think it was supposed to happen this way," Lucy said, feeling like more things were falling into place with every minute that passed, her understanding growing.

For the first time in her entire life, she felt like she was getting more answers than questions.

"Do you remember, when Lily asked him he said he already knew about the books," she said, feeling a sense of excitement and pride that she had figured it out. "I think it was because we had just told him."

Sirius considered what she had said. "If that's right, then we need to be quick. Last thing we want is to end up running into ourselves."

When they reached the office door they stopped to listen briefly to make sure they weren't going to run head first into more trouble. All was quiet.

Satisfied that the coast was clear, Sirius rapped his knuckles against it, giving it three firm knocks. There was a long pause, and then a familiar voice called back.

"Come in."

They stepped into the office, greeted by the soft whirring of the Headmaster's familiar golden trinkets littered around the room. At first it seemed as if the room was empty, the only human movement coming from the portraits busying themselves along the walls, but then a gentle trilling noise issued from across the room.

A large, beautiful flame coloured bird blinked dolefully back at them.

"Fawkes has been particularly restless today," Professor Dumbledore said softly, looking fondly at the phoenix as he scattered an array of seeds on top of her pedestal. "I had thought she might be peckish, but even the most delicious of pumpkin seeds procured from Hagrid's own patch cannot seem to prove temptation enough."

He turned his head to look at them. "Miss Hamilton, you should not be here." Though his words were as soft and measured as always, there was a disapproving edge behind them.

"That's what we came here to talk to you about, Professor," Sirius said.

Dumbledore moved over to his desk and carefully sat down, gesturing for them to do the same. He clasped his hand in front of him and waited.

Neither of them took his offer of a seat, not wanting to spend more time in there than absolutely necessary.

"I've spoken to my mother," Lucy said, starting uncertainly.

Dumbledore peered at her. "I was under the impression she was no longer in your life."

"She wasn't, she hasn't been for years," she clarified. "She came to me tonight to tell me someone told her to stay away from us ten years ago. They said if she didn't it would trigger a chain of events that would lead to a huge wizarding war." She exhaled harshly. "It's hard to explain, I don't know if I can," she said, glancing at Sirius for help.

He looked at her and then looked back to Dumbledore. "There's a set of Muggle books in Lucy's time that tell a story about a Wizard war at Hogwarts," he stated bluntly. "The funny thing? We're all in them."

"A hidden prophecy?" Dumbledore's eyes peered at him keenly.

"Something like that," Sirius replied. "Anyway, the main takeaway is we all die. Now the only way we even have a chance of stopping it all from happening is to find out exactly what's in those books and do our best to avoid it. Trouble is, the only way we get our hands on them is if Lucy here brings them to Hogwarts."

"I see," Dumbledore said thoughtfully, his hands still calmly clasped in front of him.

"The only way I end up at Hogwarts in the first place is if someone goes back, or forward I guess, to 1995 and tells my mom to leave the family home." It killed Lucy to say it aloud. It was tragically ironic somehow that she was the reason she had grown up without a mother all along. "The sands of time in my ring and in the Timekeeper will never connect to bring me here if she doesn't leave us," she explained.

Dumbledore's pensive expression turned into empathetic understanding.

"Your unhappiness would have made it possible," he murmured. "The sands of time do not work on a contented mind. Only restless souls who seek an unquenchable comfort can unlock their potential."

Lucy felt the ligaments in her heart tug. It was excruciatingly hard to have to hear it again.

"My mother told me that someone visited her when I was seven years old to tell her the prophecy and what she had to do to stop it from happening," she continued. "She wouldn't tell me who that person was, but, Professor, I think it was you."

Sirius took a quick glance behind him, still acutely aware that their past selves would be ascending the staircase at any given moment with the books in tow.

"Basically, if someone doesn't go back and tell her mother to leave their house, we're all knee deep in Hippogriff dung," he said, shifting impatiently. "It has to be someone she trusts enough to believe all this."

"It has to be you, Professor," Lucy said.

They were interrupted by the sound of the staircase moving outside of the doorway. Someone was coming up.

"It's us," Sirius said, his eyes alert.

"You must conceal yourselves," Dumbledore ordered, "There are tragic consequences for those unlucky enough to encounter an alternate self."

Racing around Dumbledore's desk, Sirius collided with Lucy until they were both pushed behind a tall, decorative stone and glass display case. The hundreds of delicate vials of Pensieve memories inside rattled as her shoulder glanced it on the way past.

She lost her footing and fell backwards just as a myriad of footsteps approached the open office door, pulling Sirius down with her.

They froze against the hard floorboards and Lucy tried to control her breathing. It was heavy from the winding she had received when Sirius's full bodyweight collapsed on top of her, as well as the knowledge that their past-selves had just entered the room.

The way Sirius's mouth was just inches from hers, his warm breath fanning her face, did not do anything to slow her pulse's tempo. He rearranged his body ever so slightly, adjusting his weight onto his forearms and shins over the top of her.

From their angle it was not possible to see the six confused, angry figures that had just entered the room, demanding more information about the mysterious books, but they heard Dumbledore greet them.

"Good afternoon."

There was no verbal reply, only the dull thudding sound of the past Sirius throwing the heavy fabric bag of books onto the Headmaster's desk.

"Miss Hamilton, you have been busy I see," Dumbledore said, just as they remembered it. Now it took on a second meaning – Lucy wondered if it was more directed at her current self.

The rest of the conversation passed just as it had the last time, except it seemed to be going in slow motion due to the fact both she and Sirius were desperate to escape their current physical discomfit, trapped awkwardly on the floor. Lucy could only imagine how Sirius was coping, what with the stress of his full bodyweight planted squarely on his elbows.

She tried to focus her attention on anything she could in order to take her mind off the fact her spine felt like it was on fire. Her latest distraction came in the form of Sirius's hips, sagging under the pressure and pressing inadvertently into hers. The change of thought seemed to do the trick in taking her mind off her aching back, though it made her body temperature soar in response.

She tuned back in to their surroundings just in time to hear the past Sirius pick up the Prisoner of Azkaban book and thrust it towards the Headmaster.

"I get thrown in prison for murdering my best friend," he said, his anger palpable even from over where she lay. "Framed. I'm not leaving until I find out who by."

In that instance, Lucy's eyes met with the boy on top of her. She knew what he was thinking, what it had taken him so long to realise; she had read the books, she knew who was responsible for framing him.

The middle of his forehead twitched slightly, as if it was taking all of his self-control not to voice the question.

There was a shuffling near to them and they realised that Dumbledore had left his desk. He was going towards the section of wall that the Time-Turner now in their possession had originally been hidden behind. It was as if the same thought crossed their minds at that precise moment; if we have the Time-Turner, what will be inside that wall?

As Dumbledore carried the intricate box back to his desk, they both held a collective breath.

It was James who broke the silence, and when he started to tell the story of the time-travelling Lords they knew that the Time-Turner was still in its box as if it had never been touched. Lucy's gaze moved instinctively down the gaping opening of Sirius's shirt to see if there was also one somehow still wrapped around his neck.

Sure enough she could just make out the glint of the golden chain dangling from his chest. When she looked back up she found he had been watching her ocular journey inside his clothes. Despite her innocent intentions she was annoyed to find her face grow warm at having been caught. Sirius looked like he was repressing a laugh.

"Miss Hamilton."

The sound of Dumbledore saying her name caught them both unawares, but it soon became clear that it was aimed at her past self.

"I would like a brief word, if you please," he carried on.

Lucy's heart sank. She could remember what Dumbledore had said as clearly as if it was emblazoned onto her eardrums. It was not something she would ever have wanted Sirius to have to hear, and yet the Headmaster was well aware that they were still in the room.

He wanted Sirius to hear it.

"Professor?" the past Lucy asked, unaware of what was about to come.

"Attempting to alter fate should not be taken lightly," Dumbledore started. "In the future, I would hope you think more carefully before taking action of this magnitude. When placed in the wrong hands, information can be a dangerous, terrible thing."

"I know I shouldn't have told them," her past self said in defense, "but I couldn't just let them die like that, not when I could stop it."

Dumbledore's next words were like a knife to both the past and present Lucy's gut. "I'm afraid it is not that simple. If the information in those books is correct, it is already too late. You cannot alter events of the past, Miss Hamilton, however desperately you may long to."

With Sirius's warmth still pressing on top of her, but no longer able to provide her with any lasting comfort, Lucy knew now that Dumbledore had been addressing both her past and present self the whole time. The message was simple; you cannot save them.

"But if they know what happens to them, surely they can make different decisions?" her past-self continued to try to argue in vain.

"If it has come to pass in your time, it is already engraved in history," Dumbledore replied. "There is no changing it. Fate will always find a way around it."

"So that's it? You're not even going to try?" she had asked.

When Dumbledore spoke again, his tone had changed. The gentleness had disapparated, making way for a firmness that her distraught mind had not had the emotional capacity to read at the time.

"You may have undermined the last years of their lives with information they have no control over."

She cringed at the Headmaster's words, unable to look Sirius in the eye. She had ruined all of their lives, and now he knew it.

.o.

When the door clicked shut for a final time, Sirius eased himself off her, helping her to her feet.

As soon as they were up he went over to the Headmaster.

"You really believe that?" he demanded immediately. "That we're stuck with what happens in the books no matter what. I thought they were a prophecy, a guide to one of our futures. Now you're telling us it's the only one."

"If it is a history book, rigid in its accuracies, then I am afraid what I have said is correct," Dumbledore confirmed. "There will be no escaping it."

"And if it's just one possible reality?" Lucy asked.

"Then that is the very best we can hope for at this moment in time," he replied. "Now, I believe I have a duty to fulfil, regardless of my doubts in its success. What is your mother's name? If I am to go forward in time to see her and convince her of her daughter's future, it will help to acquire some personal information."

"Her name's Marie Hamilton," Lucy replied, trying to think quickly of what else might help. "Her maiden name was Etheridge."

"She was a witch," Dumbledore said. Though it did not sound like a question, Lucy nodded dumbly, unable to work out how he knew.

"Marie Etheridge attended Hogwarts," he explained. "I had long since suspected there to be secrets hidden within your family tree. The Sorting Hat does not gift a wand readily."

"My mom came here?" Lucy breathed, her mind racing.

"This is not the time for further questions, I'm afraid," Dumbledore said, "That will come later. For now, you must tell me precisely the date I am to meet her."

"She left on my seventh birthday. April 15th 1995."

"She left on your birthday?" Sirius asked with a flick of his eyebrows. "That's bad timing."

"In that case, I will now accompany you to your proper time, and from there I will make the journey forward," Dumbledore said. "Despite my personal view regarding this endeavour to alter fate, I would like you take comfort in the fact you have borne your part in it with courage and resolve well beyond your years. Whatever the outcome, you can be sure your mother would be proud of you."

From the corner of her eye, Lucy could sense Sirius looking over at her.

"Mr Black, if you please," Dumbledore said, beckoning for the Time-Turner.

With the long chain secured around all three of their necks, they moved 24 hours into the future once again. Once there, Sirius relinquished it as promised, and Dumbledore left for 1995 alone, completing his fool's errand as promised.

.o.

"Yes of course, I do apologise."

In an eerily identical way to the first time they found themselves outside of Professor Dumbledore's office, his unfailingly polite voice wafted through the door yet again.

Just like the first time, there was a high-pitched mumbling reply of a young female voice.

"Of course, Miss Umbridge," Dumbledore's clear answer came, however this time Sirius and Lucy did not make their escape. Instead, they pressed their ears firmly to the door and strained to hear what the Ministry worker had come for.

A bustling of footsteps and voices soon came from behind them and the staircase twisted to reveal James, Remus and Peter.

"Wow, you didn't get very far very fast, did you?" James observed, thinking back to the pair running at top speed away from them across the grounds.

Sirius patted a hand to his friend's back. "You have no idea, mate."

"He's not the only one," a clipped voice said as its owner flung open the office door. "We have a gathering of sneaks," the young woman said with enough venom to force Lucy to repress a shudder.

A good deal shorter in height than any of them, Umbridge's presence alone seemed to make up for her lack of stature. Though her youthful features could be considered attractive, there was something inherently repellent about her that seemed to make it impossible for that to be the case.

Sirius's top lip curled upward ever so slightly as he looked at her prim lilac two piece, and small, cream leather handbag tucked securely underneath her arm.

The woman returned her attention to Dumbledore and gave a falsely delicate cough, "I trust you will deal with these rule-breakers severely following my departure?"

"I will deal with them appropriately," he promised.

"Now," Umbridge said, using a sickly sweet, delicate voice that Lucy could never have imagined would be as revolting as it was, "I would be ever so grateful if you could tell me the whereabouts of the Time-Turner that was stored –ahem- illegally on these premises. Though the Ministry does not wish to reach the conclusion that its concealment was a deliberate act of deceit on your part ," she paused for effect, "any current non-compliance may leave us with no choice."

"But of course not, Dolores," Dumbledore replied with an easy grace. "A silly misunderstanding we can resolve in a matter of minutes."

"Make it seconds," she simpered in reply.

Dumbledore picked up the coffer from his desk that the Time-Turner had been stored in and passed it to her. Her greedy fingers clasped around it immediately, as if he might try to snatch it back.

"I trust you have no other illegal contraband simply lying about the place?" she asked, as she took the Time-Turner from the box and placed it instead into a perfectly shaped indent in her velvet lined handbag.

Lucy watched her close the lid and snap the catches shut with a relish, and she felt a sadness sweep over her. She had held onto a private fantasy that she might someday go back to visit her mother or father again, just one or two more times perhaps.

But the firmly closed latches on Umbridge's bag made it clear that this would never happen; both the Time-Turner and her family were officially out of her reach forever.

Dumbledore stepped over to the door.

"A pleasure as always, Dolores," he said pleasantly, holding it open for her. "It is always so nice to have a former student revisit Hogwarts."

Dolores flushed, glancing back at the young group still behind her.

James shot Sirius a quick look, realising his initial suspicion had been right; Dolores Umbridge had been in seventh year when they had first joined the school. As she breezed haughtily past them out of the office, he dared to give her a wink.

"Do say hello to the Minister of Magic for me," Dumbledore called after her as she slammed the door shut behind her.

"I trust you got the job done?" Dumbledore asked Lucy and Sirius mildly.

They murmured their affirmation.

"Did you see my mom?" Lucy asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"I did," Dumbledore confirmed.

She waited eagerly for him to say more, and the Headmaster smiled gently.

"Let me assure you that it took all of my -quite considerable- eloquence and persuasive prowess to convince her to leave her young daughter," he said. "It was only when she was assured of your continued safety that she would consider it. She loved you …loves you," he corrected himself, "very much, my dear, of that you can be certain."

She felt a hand clasp around her own, and peered down. She was surprised to find that it was Sirius. Though it was obviously meant as a comforting gesture, after all they had been through in the last 24 hours, she found that it brought her even closer to tears than she had been before.

Though the other boys weren't fully aware of what had gone on that day, they knew enough to know that it was an open sore.

"Now, if you feel capable of it, it would be wise to begin to lay out our plans," Dumbledore said, his voice resolute.

"Plans, Professor?" Remus enquired.

"Yes, Mr Lupin. Plans to cut short the barrage of evil coming our way."

"You read the books?" Lucy asked, surprised by his sudden move to action.

"Indeed."

He went back over to his desk and readied a quill and parchment, leaving it to scribble out notes of its own accord.

"If you could all please take a seat," he requested. "There will be no lessons for you today."

He peered over at Peter.

"Mr Pettigrew, it may be wise to take the chair next to mine."

Peter paused, already halfway into his chair next to James. Though he did not look happy about moving, he seemed to know better than to argue, taking a bemused seat next to the safety of the Professor.

This was it, Lucy thought. Sirius, James and Remus were finally going to find out about Peter's betrayal.

Sat there next to Dumbledore, slumped nervously in his chair, the boy looked incapable of hurting a fly let alone his best friends.

She wondered what they would do to him when they found out.


	28. Head Over Feet

A/N: We're officially nearing the end.

Thanks for taking the time to review x

* * *

 **Chapter 28**

' **Head over Feet.'**

James had been shocked, and then filled with an unending, blinding rage, and then finally completely and absolutely heart-broken as Dumbledore recanted the vital details of the books to them.

He sat, unspeaking, while he was told about Peter's future double-crossing of the young Potter family - how he would betray the location of their Fideilius protected home in Little Whingeing to Lord Voldemort in exchange for power, and the devastating consequences that it would go on to have.

Lucy couldn't stop herself from watching Sirius in the seat next to hers, studying his reaction when he was told that he would be wrongly blamed for the deaths of his friends, and left to rot in Azkaban for 12 years. He wouldn't know what it was to be a free man until the curtain of death came for him at the age of just 36.

He stared straight ahead, the muscles in his jaw working, not saying a word. She longed to reach out to comfort him, but she was almost frightened about what his response would be. Now he knew the full extent of what she had been keeping from him all the time she had been there.

"Do you think you are up to the task, Mr Pettigrew?" Dumbledore asked when he had finished relaying the details of his plan to subvert the prophecy laid out in the books. He surveyed the smaller boy over the top of his crescent shaped glasses.

Though he was already sat down, Peter looked like he was close to collapsing.

His head had shook back and forth in almost indiscernible movements all the way through Dumbledore's revelation of his murderous treachery, described so clearly in black and white in front of them. His small, watery eyes were unblinking, an unmistakeable look of terror taken root within them. He was in shock.

His gaze darted around at them all. Neither James nor Remus could stand to look at him.

When Peter's eyes met with Sirius's, the dark haired boy's fist clenched until the white of his knuckles protruded through the layer of skin. Though he wasn't moving, Sirius's unnatural stillness seemed to be as threatening as if he had lunged forward. Sensing his former friend's bridled rage, Peter cringed visibly back from him.

In the last hour Peter Pettigrew had learnt that the fate of the world, along with that of his best friends, would rest squarely on his barely developed shoulders.

He moved his focus back to Dumbledore with a look of anxious resignment and nodded. There was the briefest glimmer of relief in the Headmaster's expression before it became impassive again.

He swept his eyes over the violence and resentment that remained fixed on the other faces in the room.

"Young Peter will need his friends now more than ever if he is to adopt his crucial role," he warned them. "Push him away, and the prophecy set out in these books could very easily still come to pass."

Remus was the only one other than Lucy that gave the Headmaster some kind of acknowledgement.

"We understand," Remus said softly, glancing at Peter for the first time.

Dumbledore nodded gratefully at him before turning his attention to James and Sirius.

"While your anger is understandable as you come to terms with what may come to pass, it is of critical importance that you remember it is not the Peter you see in front of you responsible for those dreadful things, but just one possibility of what could arise should the wrong path be chosen."

He looked at the two of them intently.

"We all of us have both light and dark within. What matters most is the part we choose to act on."

"Some have more potential for dark than others," Sirius replied. Lucy found it strange to hear him speak again after he had remained silent for so long. His voice didn't sound like his. It had a dangerous, guttural undertone.

"And some should understand that the way we treat those we deem inferior can elicit terrible repercussions," Dumbledore replied.

Sirius stared stonily back at him.

"Help your friend to make the right decisions," the Headmaster urged them.

Sirius turned to James, asking him what he was thinking without saying a word.

They both looked over at Peter's seemingly harmless form and he seemed to jump under their unexpected scrutiny. There was an endless apology going round and around on a loop in his eyes as he peered nervously back at them.

"Above all, I would ask that you approach the future with a positive and open mind," Dumbledore continued seriously. "It is not over until the Fat Lady sings, as they say."

"But she's always singing," Peter replied uncertainly, before wishing he hadn't opened his mouth.

Even after everything they had heard, Sirius couldn't resist rolling his eyes. He couldn't even begin to imagine how the one with the least ability to conspire, or even form intelligible sentences, of all of them could ever turn out to be the most deadly, in any universe.

"Now," Dumbledore continued, "you may or may not already be aware of the rumours regarding a resistance group called The Order of the Phoenix. We will need to present your case to the current members forthwith, and when the time is right, you may join their ranks."

"I want to join now," Sirius said immediately.

"Me too," James said resolutely.

Dumbledore peered at them. "Yes, I rather suppose you do," he replied simply.

.o.

After leaving the secure confines of the Headmaster's office, they made it as far as the first corridor before Sirius could no longer hold himself back.

"I don't care what Dumbledore said, I don't want _him_ hanging around with us anymore," he jabbed a finger towards Peter as if striking an actual blow,

Peter recoiled in shock.

Remus put a hand out across the other boy's chest; shielding him from any physical blows should Sirius lose the last tenuous thread on his control.

"He hasn't done anything," Remus reminded him.

" _Yet_ ," Sirius argued, his eyes flashing.

"He's still our friend, Sirius."

"He's a _traito_ r!" Sirius exploded in a way that Lucy had never seen before.

"We need him on our side," James cut in, his voice jarringly calm and constrained in comparison. It seemed to take the wind out of Sirius's sail. His chest heaved as he looked back at his best friend.

"How can someone so _imbecilic_ end up with so much control over our lives?" he spat, disorientated at the unfairness of it all, searching for some kind of answer from James.

He pinned his murderous glare back on Peter. "If it was up to me, I'd kill you now. Before you can hurt anyone I care about. You're _lucky_ we need you."

"Remember what Dumbledore said," Lucy pointed out as softly as she could muster, not wanting Sirius's ire to turn in her direction though she knew it was only a matter of time.

"We can't ostracise him," Remus agreed. "That's what causes it in the first place."

Sirius held his hands up. "I've said what I have to say."

"Go and cool off," James said. He placed a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay Padfoot, we'll get through this."

Sirius's jaw clenched again, but he nodded.

He looked to Lucy. "Are you coming?"

She frowned. Though it was worded as a question it didn't sound much like he would accept a no.

She suddenly found that she did not want to be alone with him. Not while he was acting like he was. He seemed to be one tiny step away from completely losing control.

She realised that he had not spoken directly to her since Dumbledore had told them exactly what was in the books she'd given them. He obviously blamed her too.

Against her better judgement, she followed him away from their small group. She had let them all down, and she knew she owed Sirius the chance to get the answers he needed from her, even if that meant dealing with his anger as a by-product.

She followed him down through the castle, neither of them speaking. They passed a few other students on the way, but they may as well have been ghosts for all the attention either of them paid to them.

A group of girls Lucy recognised from a couple of their classes had smiled at Sirius as he passed, but he seemed to be blind to them, focused only on putting one long stride in front of the other. They looked to her, following closely on his tail, as if asking her what the matter was with their usually gregarious acquaintance. She avoided their questioning stares.

Sirius finally reached his destination, stalking out onto the castle grounds and filling his lungs in a staggered breath. As he had hoped, it allowed some of the tension to leave his body.

It was a few degrees below freezing out in the open air, but neither of them seemed to be in a position to notice. They kept walking until they reached the perimeter of the Forbidden Forest.

Lucy slowed down as they approached it. Even in broad daylight there was something unnerving about the thick forest of ancient trees, filled with countless deadly creatures she had only ever read about.

"We're not going in," Sirius said distractedly, picking up on her reluctance.

Sitting down on a gigantic felled trunk at the very edge of the forest, he leaned forwards until his hands were resting over his knees. They subconsciously curled themselves into fists.

"I don't understand why you didn't tell us all this from the start," he said in a low voice.

His eyes were fixed resolutely on the ground in front of him as he spoke as if he couldn't bring himself to look at her. She was relieved to find that, for now, the fresh air seemed to have clasped a lid on the release of his raw emotions.

"You treated us like we were just characters in a child's storybook, acting out scenes for your own personal amusement. You sat with James and Lily, day after day, knowing what waited for them. You-"

He stopped himself, raking his hand up through his hair.

"Any point in the past few months, you could have told us. Months that we could have spent planning how to save ourselves, to stop it all from happening. Wasted."

He finally looked up at her, but she wished that he hadn't. She could see the look of betrayal on his face.

When he didn't speak anymore, she realised he was waiting for her to explain herself. He needed her to say something that could explain how someone who had chosen to stay with them over her own family could have ever acted in the way that she had; lying to them for so long while smiling in their face.

"You're right," she said. "I was selfish and stupid and arrogant." She felt the lump in her throat threaten to choke her. "It was easier to pretend that Hogwarts was all in my head, that maybe I was just unconscious somewhere dreaming it all up-"

She paused, catching a glimpse of the disbelief on his face.

"-Because if I could convince myself that none of you were real, that nothing here was real," she continued resolutely, "then it didn't matter what I did, or what I kept from you, there would never be any consequences. If you were all just part of my imagination, then you couldn't get hurt."

He stared at her. "And yet you still ended up giving Lily those books. Decided we were real after all, did you?"

"I started to _hope_ you were real," she corrected wildly, "because if you weren't, if I woke up and you didn't really exist, then-"

She stopped talking and cast her eyes away from him, unable to carry on while he stared at her with so much barely hidden resentment.

He pushed himself up from his makeshift seat in one swift movement. "You've chosen this life with us now, you don't get to run away from this," he said.

Lucy forced herself to look back at him, maintaining his eye contact. The air around them seemed to quieten, as if waiting with baited breath for the tension to be broken.

"Just tell me one thing," Sirius said finally, his voice clear and solid in the silence. "Why did you decide we were suddenly worth saving?" Before she could speak he added, "And don't pretend it had anything to do with caring madly about Lily. It's a simple question," he said, "why _now_?"

It was like the question was burning away at him from the inside out. When she didn't answer, it was as if something within him cracked.

An abrupt noise sent a tremor of fear rippling through Lucy's body. She quickly realised it had come from Sirius; his human groan of frustration had tumbled into an animalistic growl, the sheer force of his emotions leaving him fighting the impulse to turn into his canine Animagus. His confused body gave a shudder, pushing Padfoot firmly away.

Against her better judgement, Lucy stepped slowly closer to him. It hurt her to think she was causing him any more pain than he already felt.

"I just couldn't lie anymore," she told him, looking at him with pity.

Sirius's eyes flashed yellow in response, a few of his teeth growing longer and pointed. He shook it away again with a twist of his head. "Not good enough," he said, his voice startlingly close to a snarl.

She exhaled in exasperation.

"I've already told you why, Sirius," she said, tired of the games.

Sirius shook away another roll of repressed magical energy, narrowing his eyes at her in a wordless question.

"Last night in the common room," she continued in explanation. " _You_ chose not to believe it, to think it was some kind of joke."

Sirius blinked, a spark of recognition dawning on his face. His expression became suddenly still and unreadable.

"Because you love me," he realised aloud.

His body gave one last gigantic convulsion, and this time he allowed himself to succumb to it. In just a few seconds Lucy found herself standing alone, the newly transformed black hound turning on its heel and bounding away from her into the forest.

She stared after it into the dense woodland, darkly shadowed as if smothered by perpetual nighttime despite the grey-white sky of daylight above her. Already, Sirius was no where to be seen, swallowed by the gloom.

She breathed out a curse word.

Seeing no other option but to head back to the castle alone, she forced herself to move, putting one unwilling foot in front of the other.

Climbing back up the steep hill towards the stone walls of the school, she trod the familiar route back towards the gravel path that led directly to the school, cutting a curved line through the crunching, frosty grass. She was just metres away from one of the castle's many gaping entries when the downy hairs on her neck prickled, sending a warning shiver down her spine. She was being followed.

Turning quickly to catch the culprit, she felt ridiculous when there was no one to be seen. A few crumpled brown leaves scattered in the wind, as if mocking her unfounded fear.

Wanting to get as far away from the area as she could, she turned back to continue up to the school's entrance.

Having taken just one step, she stopped in her tracks. A solitary figure stood blocking her way, as if he had appeared from thin air. Back in human form, Sirius stepped towards her purposefully, coming to a halt a arm's length away.

"I love you too," he said.

Lucy stared back at him as if he was a mirage. She had waited all her life to hear Sirius Black say those words, but this was not how she had always imagined it.

In her many dreams, these three words had been whispered through Sirius's barely parted lips at the height of a passionate embrace. Or during a tender moment in front of the Common Room fire.

What she had not imagined was his perfect features distorted with inner torment, as if loving her was the last thing he had ever wanted to do.

"All you've done is lie since the day we met," he said, as if unable to justify the way he felt even to himself. He shook his head, "But you're all I can think about. I can't get you out of my head." He gripped at the dark hair against the top of his scalp, as if he could physically pull her from his mind. "Then you have to go and sacrifice your absurd little Hogwarts fantasy just to help us," he said, "to _save_ us. Even though you must've known how we'd react, or that you could end up in _Azkaban_ for it."

The storm brewing inside of him was tangible. "I've always known what path to take - been clear on everything - but you've waltzed into our time and blurred all the lines."

His expression was fierce, as if he wanted to crush understanding into her until she was able to see the extent of what she'd done to him.

"You love me," she managed to sound it out, trying to process what he'd said, sandwiched between his rage as it was.

Sirius's warm, ragged breath released draconian puffs of condensation into the winter air between them.

Without warning, he moved forwards, on top of her before she could retreat in instinct. His hands moved to the sides of her arms and gripped onto them, his eyes searching her face as the rolling wind whipped violently around them, agitating their hair and clothes. She couldn't tell if he was going to shake her or kiss her.

In the end he did neither.

Dropping his hands away, he retreated backwards in one swift movement and started to laugh, ferociously and without warning.

"Merlin help me," he cried, the laughter turning to melancholy. "I'm in love with you."

Lucy looked back at him in silence, her mind swimming. She felt a painful sort of euphoria. It was as if loving her had broken him in some way.

"Tell me we can beat him," Sirius's voice was suddenly desperate, his eyes turning sorrowful as they fixed on hers.

She knew who he meant without him needing to say it. The Dark Lord. Responsible for the death and torture of so many innocent loved ones.

It became clear to her in that instant why the idea of surrendering to his feelings for her had affected him so badly. He was scared of letting her to get too close, of becoming too attached before he could be sure he actually had a future to share with anyone.

"We can beat him," she replied.

Her tone was unexpectedly stoic and steady in the face of Sirius's volatility. It brought an unexpected peace to his features, as if the fact she had said it with such assurance could make it true somehow.

Standing in front of one another on the freezing grounds, with no one else in sight, Lucy started to feel the dangerous threat of hope that maybe this was the one time she wasn't lying to him.


	29. The Order of the Phoenix

**Thanks for reading and reviewing x**

 **Chapter 29**

' **The Order of the Phoenix.'**

"Did you see when that Auror Caradoc summoned that huge swarm of wasps?" James said enthusiastically, helping himself to a generous portion of cottage pie at dinner. He whistled in sheer awe, "I would not want to be on the receiving end of that hex."

Over four weeks had passed since Dumbledore had told them the details of the books' prophecy, and both Christmas and the New Year's celebrations had come and gone in a blur of festivities.

Following their discussion with the Headmaster, it had taken him less than 24 hours to arrange a meeting of the current members of The Order of the Phoenix, and a mere 24 hours after that for them to agree to take on Sirius, James, Remus and Peter for training.

Against McGonagall's better judgement, Dumbledore had managed to convince the remaining Order members that the boys would play a crucial role in the war should they like it or not, and it was only fitting to provide them with sufficient training.

In just over three years' time, Voldemort _would_ come for them. It would be grossly inappropriate for any wizard in a position of guardianship to leave their students unprepared. Professor McGonagall had felt that this kind of emotional blackmail was a very low blow indeed, but she had also found herself unable to argue with its logic.

Lily had taken the news of Peter's potential deceit with far more composure than any of the rest of them. After Lucy had helped James break the news of exactly what was in the books and the role Peter might play, Lily had thought about it very carefully before passing judgement.

Eventually, she came to the conclusion that there were likely countless possibilities of what might happen in their future, with any one of their group able to turn to darkness if the wrong choice was made.

It was just unfortunate luck for Peter that his disgrace had been recorded in a series of books.

Lily had been the comfort that Peter had needed after the truth had been revealed. Far from avoiding him, she had taken it upon herself to take him under her wing, and with her leading the way, the boys had soon followed suit.

Sirius poured a goblet full of pumpkin juice. "The Prewetts' said we might be able to use our furry alter-egos to our advantage in close combat. They offered to give us a hand with it next week."

James made an appreciative noise in response.

"I'm not sure mine would be much use," Peter admitted, wondering how useful a rat could really be in battle.

"Perhaps think of using it more as stealth move than sheer brutality?" Remus suggested, using his knife to push food onto his fork.

Peter thought on it. "Yeah… Maybe."

Sirius returned his focus to his plate and kept it there.

He had not yet been able to fully accept Peter back after everything they had found out about what he could become, but he'd learnt better than to voice it out loud anymore. Whatever he thought of him, he knew they needed him on their side for their plan to keep James and Lily alive to work.

Peter would be taking a starring role in it, after all.

It was this almost obsessive drive towards the end goal that kept Sirius from throttling the life out of him with his bare hands. Peter had also helpfully learnt to keep an arm's reach away from him at all times, which helped matters greatly.

"Lucy, will you tell the boys to keep their voices down, please?" Lily said pointedly. They had been warned countless times not to reveal to their weekly Order training to anyone. "I honestly cannot say it one more time. Perhaps they'll actually listen to you?"

Lucy shook her head, "Very doubtful," she replied, taking a drink from her goblet of Butterbeer.

"Hey, we might," Sirius looked over at her, a smirk threatening his face. "Depends on how persuasive you are." He flicked a suggestive eyebrow at her, grinning roguishly.

Lily rolled her eyes at the sight of his flirting. "Oh, please," she sighed. "I think I preferred it better when you were both emotionally repressed."

James chuckled. "Ah, let them be Lils. It takes hard work and dedication to be that publicly embarrassing."

Sirius gave his friend's arm a shove in retaliation.

Lucy took another sip of her drink, pretending her insides weren't squirming pleasantly the way they did whenever Sirius was openly affectionate with her. It had taken her what felt like an eternity to get to that point.

The day after their icy confessions out on the castle grounds had marked an unexpected turning point in their relationship. Their group had been headed to a secluded spot in the library to tell Lily everything they now knew about the prophecy, when on the way there, without warning or explanation, Sirius had placed a hand on the small of Lucy's back, as if it was a natural gesture.

Though it was a small, uncertain action, it had caused a feverish spark to ignite in her chest. It seemed to offer a glimmer of hope that she stood a chance of redemption, even after everything she had kept from them.

As the weeks passed, Sirius had started to regain some of the light behind his eyes; he began to let himself laugh and tell jokes again. To Lucy's great relief, he had also started to look at her in a way that didn't betray any of his leftover resentment at what she had done. It was as if she had been gifted a second chance at life in Hogwarts. A second chance with Sirius.

Their first kiss since the reveal of the books came after dinner one Sunday evening, around two weeks prior.

They were making their way through the corridors towards the common room with the rest of their friends, seemingly no different any other night, when Sirius had held back to join her at the back of the group, purposefully lagging behind.

He had been acting strangely all evening; she had felt him watching her over dinner, but whenever she caught his eye he would glance immediately away until she had begun to think she was imagining it.

"Are you okay?" she whispered to him as they walked two steps behind Remus and Peter. She was worried his behaviour had something to do with the prophecy.

Sirius had merely placed a finger to his lips in response.

Ignoring her frown, he reached down and took her by the hand and, seizing the opportunity of everyone's inattention - all busy chatting about how much homework they had left to do - he took an unexpected left turn down an adjacent corridor.

It had been shadowy and isolated at that time in the evening, the only light source a quivering flame in a wall-mounted candle.

Once satisfied they had escaped unnoticed, Sirius had slowed his pace, guiding her over to a lead-piped window overlooking the grounds. Noticing the wide stone window ledge, perfect for sitting, Lucy had perched herself on it with her back pressed against the glass.

"What's going on?" she had asked him, pretending to be cooler than she felt. They had not been alone together since their exchange on the grounds.

Instead of answering her question, Sirius had merely looked back at her from underneath his dark lashes. The look in his eyes had made her heart skitter unexpectedly; she had seen it before, an age ago now. Long before any of the recent turmoil.

Forcing herself to remain calm, she suddenly noticed he had moved closer to her without her really realising it, the front of his legs now resting lightly against her knees. Lucy had felt the dull thud of her heart start to thrum softly in her ears. She understood enough to know what would come next, but she hadn't dared to let herself believe it.

Without either of them saying a word, Lucy watched as Sirius lifted a long-fingered hand to the side of her face. Blinking slowly in response, she felt the slightly rough, familiar texture of his palm against her cheek.

With all of the tenderness she felt he was capable of showing, she finally watched him bring his lips down to hers.

Though he had not told he loved her since their interaction on the grounds, she felt it for the very first time in the way he touched her that evening. It wasn't desperate or fierce like their last kiss during the night of the Yule Ball. It was gentle and meaningful, with a sincere intensity, as if it was his way of explaining to her how he felt without having to find the right words.

Lucy had felt that the glow from her insides could have illuminated the entire dimly lit corridor.

.o.

James wrapped an arm around Lily's shoulders. "Don't worry, we'll get bored of talking about our super-secret and incredible Auror training soon enough," he reassured her.

"No we won't," Sirius interjected baldly, spearing the bite of steak he had just cut.

James grinned. "Well, no, probably not," he admitted. "But to be fair it is completely amazing, Lily," he gushed. "A group of elite Aurors testing our capabilities, stretching us, showing us what they can do. You seriously need to come along."

Lily pursed her lips.

"And I'll get to come along when I'm finished with school," she told him. "I can't see the point in starting training when we haven't even finished our studies."

Though they had both clearly been outvoted, Lily had been inclined to agree with Professor McGonagall; their vocational training could wait until after their NEWTs. Without first obtaining the understanding behind the spells they would be learning, she couldn't see what use the practical training would be.

James frowned but focused on finishing his food. It was just one of the many things he knew it was better to agree to disagree on.

"I'm going up the Common Room, you coming?" James looked at them expectantly as their used plates vanished as one, marking the end of dinner. "I was thinking we could have a game of Wizard's Chess, winner plays winner, final loser has to carry out a forfeit."

Lily climbed over the bench and James took her hand as they all made their way out of the Great Hall.

"You go on ahead, there's something I need to do," Lucy told them, hanging back in the Entrance Hall.

As the others walked away, Sirius stepped up behind her and put his hands on either side of her waist, peering over her shoulder. "And just what might that be?" he asked.

She turned her head to look up at him, the guilt written all over her face.

He let go to look at her properly. "Luce…" he said reproachfully.

"Alright, fine, I'm going to talk to Marion," she admitted. "I just want to speak to her," she continued imploringly when he looked severely unimpressed. "It's not like I'm going to go blurting out that she's really my aunt or anything…as much as I'd like to," she added underneath her breath.

"I heard that," he said.

"It would just be nice to spend some time with her is all." She tried her best to channel an imaginary halo above her head. "You know, before we have to leave Hogwarts and I never get to see her again. She's my only link with my mother…"

They both knew she was trying to make him feel guilty enough to let her go without passing judgement.

"You know you'll just go and do it no matter what I say," he replied, "I don't know why you even bother explaining yourself anymore."

"Because I love you," she said quickly, baring her teeth in a cheesy smile.

"You can't use that line to get you out of everything," he warned. "It'll lose all its meaning."

"I can if it's true," she sang in retaliation.

The devilish light behind Sirius's eyes flared and she knew to run before he had even flinched towards her.

He chased her up the first flight of the Grand Staircase, with hysterical panic spurring her onwards, before he halted suddenly to watch her continue scattering up the steps for no reason. This was his favourite part of the game.

He let out a bark of laughter as she turned around and realised he had stopped. He had never once caught her yet, he liked it better when she felt she had a sporting chance.

"Turd," she griped at him from what she thought was a safe position at the top of the first set of stairs.

"Oh really?" he mouthed. Without missing a beat he started running at full pelt up towards her, taking the steps two a time with ease.

Letting out a cry of alarm, she pumped her legs as fast as they could go right up the next two flights of stairs.

Faint barking laughter came from the corridor below and she knew he had managed to trick her again. She panted out breaths, holding the faint ache in her side from the spurt of exercise so soon after eating.

.o.

Realising she must have somehow missed Marion leaving the Great Hall, Lucy continued upwards towards the Gryffindor Common Room. Her aunt was often there with a small group of friends after every dinnertime, though Lucy had not plucked up the courage to go over to her since she found out who she was.

"Hopping Hinkypunks," Lucy said.

The Fat Lady swung open her frame.

As soon as Lucy stepped into the room, her eyes scanned the area. Lily and all of the boys apart from Sirius were over in their usual area.

Trying to make herself invisible to avoid the risk of them calling her over, she skirted around the outside of the room towards where she could now see Marion seated. Sitting casually on the arm of her aunt's chair was Marlene, Sirius's ex-girlfriend.

The last time they had spoken had been the night of the Yule Ball, when Marlene had flirted with Lucy's date, Tom. While she didn't really mind her, Lucy did not want to talk to Marion while she was around.

"Hey," she approached the girls, smiling through her nerves.

They looked over at her.

"Lucy!" Marlene exclaimed with a broad grin, pushing herself into a standing position. "Haven't seen you in a while, we thought you were avoiding us.

"There's been a lot going on," Lucy apologised. She peered around Marlene's shoulder and caught Marion's eye. "Flitwick actually asked me to fetch you," she told her, thinking on her feet.

Marion exchanged a confused look with Marlene. "Did he say what about?" she asked, looking a little concerned.

"I'm not sure…I don't think it's anything bad," Lucy reassured her quickly.

Marion got up, shrugging at Marlene, "I guess I'll be back in a bit," she said.

Lucy led the way back out of the portrait hole and along the hallway.

"Okay so I have a confession," she said.

Marion looked at her questioningly.

"Flitwick didn't really ask me to fetch you."

"But then why-?" Marion started.

"I just wanted to talk to you alone and didn't know how to say it without it coming across as kind of weird...which I guess it already is," she started awkwardly. "I just wanted to say thanks, I suppose," she said, still trying to think fast.

She had been so caught up in just wanting to talk to her aunt that she hadn't stopped to think about what she was actually going to say.

"Err, the thanks of course being for…for…for trying to look out for me during the Yule Ball," she finished, having a sudden brainwave.

Marion's eyes were wide. "Oh." She nodded slowly. "Okay…"

"I mean, you're pretty much the only person who asked me if I was alright after what Mary did to me, and then you told Sirius that I might need his help. I really appreciated it even if I wasn't exactly in the right frame of mind to show it at the time. So, yeah," she smiled uncertainly, "thanks."

Looking at Marion now she could see the similarities to her mother that she had never noticed before. There was something similar in the structure of their face and the kindness of their eyes. It was like having a piece of her mother still with her.

Though Marion had no idea she was standing in front of her niece, Lucy felt the inexplicable urge to give her a hug. Rather than fight it as she knew she probably should have done, she threw her arms around the astonished girl and held her tightly.

It was obvious that Marion did not know how to react. She patted an uncertain hand to Lucy's back, chuckling uncertainly.

"It's really okay," she said, "It was the least I could do."

Lucy stepped back and wiped a tear from her eye.

Marion's brow furrowed, "Are you alright?" she asked gently.

Lucy shook her head and waved her hand, "sorry, I'm just a bit homesick."

Marion's gave her a look of understanding. "Aw, don't worry, I get that from time to time. My sister used to come to this school, but she left last year and it's been kind of hard being here on my own. Alice and Marlene make up for it of course, but there's nothing quite like family."

"What's your sister's name?" Lucy asked, careful to keep her voice as casual as possible.

"Marie," Marion replied with a soft smile. "She's not just a sister, she's my best friend."

Lucy's heart gave an ache. "She left school last year did you say?" She couldn't resist herself from asking more questions about her mother, though she knew if Lily or Sirius were there they would have pulled her away by now.

"She's gone to work at the Ministry," Marion said, "In the Protection of Magical Species Department, I think she said. She always did say she preferred animals to people." She gave a light chuckle and the corner of Lucy's mouth turned upwards, imagining it.

A brief silence passed between them.

"Anyway," Lucy said, not wanting it to descend into awkwardness any worse than it had already, "I better go, my friends are waiting. And I guess Marlene will be wondering where you are."

Marion nodded. "Feel free to come and talk to me whenever you feel homesick. We can share our tragic stories," she joked.

"Thanks," Lucy replied genuinely. "That would be nice. And thanks again, you know, for what you did at the Ball."

Marion smiled. "See you around."

Lucy let her leave before starting the walk back to the Common Room herself.

The fact that her mother had left the school the year before was a slightly disappointing twist, because it meant she would never be able to 'accidentally' bump into her, or steal a few years back somehow. She knew it was likely for the best though; she wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation of revealing who she really was.

.oOo.

"Did you manage to find her?" Sirius asked once she was reunited with the rest of the group on the sofas around the Common Room fire.

James and Remus were locked in an intense death match of Wizard's chess.

"Yeah," Lucy replied in a hushed voice.

"And?" Sirius pressed, moving up so she could squeeze in next to him.

"I didn't say anything incriminating if that's what you're asking," she replied. "It was just nice to get to talk to her knowing who she really is. Maybe we'll get to be friends," she said hopefully. "Just while we're at Hogwarts obviously."

"Just be careful," Sirius said.

"Since when am I not?" Lucy replied, feigning offense.

"Black knight to white queen," Remus stated.

Lucy and Sirius watched alongside the rest of them as Remus's tiny dark horse slid across the chessboard to James's queen and thrashed her violently with his hooves.

Remus smiled triumphantly, "And if I'm not mistaken, that would be check mate."

Peter let out an audible gasp. James had been the reigning champion of Wizard's chess for as long as he could remember.

James stared at his decimated figures in disbelief. He held up a finger as if to make a point, but then put it down again. "Well, I guess this calls for congratulations," he said, reaching out to shake Remus's hand, "I know when I've been bested. Jolly good show and all that."

Remus glanced at the proffered hand and raised an eyebrow. "I think you might be forgetting something."

James looked back at him with blank innocence, "Am I?" he said with exaggerated confusion.

"Pretty sure your words were, 'loser has to be the winner's personal servant for a whole week'," Sirius pointed out helpfully.

James gave him a look, "I honestly can't remember that," he replied through gritted teeth.

Lily scoffed. "Oh James, you know exactly what you said. Now be a gracious loser and accept your chores like a good boy."

Remus took a bar of chocolate from his pocket and broke a chunk off, placing it in his mouth and giving a gentle sigh, "I have a feeling all of this chocolate is going to make me quite thirsty-"

"Stop eating it then," James interjected curtly.

"- _Luckily_ , I have a bottle of Butterbeer under my bed," Remus continued undeterred. "Be a pal and fetch it for me, won't you?" He smiled politely at James, though there was a hint of a smirk in his eyes.

James looked at him sourly. "Fine," he said, "But I'll remember this, don't think I won't."

Remus continued to smile at him even as James walked away up to the Dormitory muttering mutinously under his breath.

"Nice one, Moony," Sirius grinned.

"Guess I better head off I suppose," Lucy said reluctantly, making to stand up.

Sirius looked disappointed, "Again? But the fun is just getting started."

"Can't afford to be late," she replied, "McGonagall will probably lynch me."

"You're going for wand practice again?" Lily seemed surprised. "It's everyday now, isn't it?"

"Yeah, she's sick of me not being able to join in with lessons."

Lucy had continued her wand practice with McGonagall with even more determined fervour since her stay at Hogwarts was decided, but even now her knowledge had only just reached upper third year magic.

Her entirely Muggle upbringing meant it would more than likely take her years to catch up with the others, and even then there was a strong possibility that her skills would not fall on par with James and Sirius. Their immense talent seemed to come as naturally as breathing.

McGonagall was not a patient woman. She had begun to see Lucy as a sort of protégé – any success or failures of her student being a direct reflection of her own ability to teach.

"I could come with you, give you a target to practice on?" Sirius offered.

Lucy looked amused. "Can if you want. We're practising Aguamenti and Incendio today."

"Ah, water and fire," Sirius replied. "On second thought, I might give that one a miss."

Lucy grinned. "You sure?"

"Listen if you want us to shower together that badly it can be arranged, but the fire?" He cocked an eyebrow, "That's just kinky."

"Don't pretend you wouldn't enjoy it," Remus said, sitting back and helping himself to more chocolate.

Lucy walked away to the portrait hole, readying herself for the onslaught that was the Transfiguration professor's impossibly high standards.

.o.

"Good girl," McGonagall told her curtly, clearing away the pool of water that had spurted from Lucy's wand with a wordless wave of her own.

It had taken them an excruciating hour, but Lucy had eventually refined both spells. She was proud that she had only inadvertently set fire to just one book in the process this time, and it was really a very small one so she felt it could hardly count.

"I will see you at the same time tomorrow," the Professor said, already gathering her coat and bag.

Lucy stowed her wand and left quickly before she call her back for any reason. Stepping out of the classroom, she heard the Transfiguration door close behind her, and glanced briefly back to see McGonagall stalking away. Clearly the professor was as desperate as she was to reach the comfort of her chambers after their mentally-exhausting session.

Lucy walked resolutely out into the open air of the middle courtyard, crossing the paving of the courtyard with quick, sure steps.

It was a clear night and the star constellations were easily discernible. She glanced up briefly, spotting the brightest star without even trying; Sirius's namesake.

She had nearly reached the door leading to the inner castle when she heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps behind her.

She spun on her heel, her hand moving instinctively to her wand.

"Tom," she said in surprise, recognising the madly spiked outline of her friend's hair on top of his lithe frame, even in the limited light of the evening courtyard.

The last time she had seen Thomas Boswell had been in her own time, and he had looked very different to the pale teenager now stood in front of her.

She looked over at the boy she now knew would one day become her uncle through marriage, piecing him together with the attractive middle aged man she had seen him turn into, who had offered her food and kindness and a place to stay.

A sudden urge to tell him about their future took her by surprise; how they would one day be part of the same family tree. She forced it back down inside her, knowing it was a dangerous wish.

"Haven't seen you in ages, Spacegirl," Tom said casually, oblivious to it all as he strolled over to her. "Thought you'd gone back to wherever you came from."

"Decided against it," she replied simply.

"Well I'm glad you're back," he said, coming to a standstill in front of her.

"Why, did you miss me?" she tried to keep her voice light. She peered up at him, she had forgotten how tall he was.

Tom fixed her with his dark eyes. "Maybe."

"I've missed you too," she said honestly.

He gave her a small smile. "Probably not in quite the same way though, eh? Heard you and Black are official," he said, his face betraying a hint of emotion. "Always did think you could do better than the Marauders."

He let his sentence hang meaningfully in the air. She knew what he was referring to; their earlier years of bullying other students who failed to meet their standards.

"Sirius is a good person," she said definitely, knowing it was true regardless of what he had done in the past.

Tom shrugged. "I guess I just hoped it could've turned out differently."

She stood in silence, watching the disappointment play across his face and unable to do anything. They could never be together even if she'd wanted him. Tom was always supposed to marry her aunt. If she even tried to interfere with his timeline, she knew there would be severe consequences.

She released a breath. "If it's any consolation I'm almost 100% sure you're going to find someone who's better for you in every way than I am. It might even be someone you already know."

He exhaled a quiet laugh. "Whatever you say."

"No, it's true," she insisted. "I should know I've seen the future."

She flicked her eyebrows mystically.

"Sure you have," Tom replied, "And I'm a monkey's uncle."

Lucy furrowed her brow at his unintentional insult.

"What?" he chuckled. "Are you really taking offence on behalf of my future nieces or nephews? I'm sure they'll all be lovely, upstanding characters and nowhere near close to being a monkey, if that makes you feel any better?"

She chose not to reply. "Anyway…" she continued undeterred, "a bird told me there's a girl in our year who already has a bit of a crush on you."

"Is that right?" he smirked.

She nodded importantly. "What was it she said about you again? That 'you make her laugh' and…" She pretended to think on it, enjoying watching him stew, "Oh yeah, that she thinks you're really sexy when you're on stage with your band."

She couldn't help but find her slight exaggeration at least a little bit funny, but she reasoned that it was all for a good cause.

"This little bird wouldn't go by the name of Lucy Hamilton, would it?" he asked.

She shot him a look and he snorted.

"I'll give you a clue," she said, "her name begins with M."

Tom looked to one side, thinking on it for a moment. His eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh God no, it's not Marlene is it?" He looked a little traumatised. "I thought she was going to eat me alive when I wouldn't dance with her at the Yule Ball."

"It's not Marlene," she promised.

Tom looked nonplussed. "Then who? I can't think of anyone else beginning with M."

"It doesn't work unless you guess," she said with a hint of stubbornness.

Tom sighed, "Fine...Mary then?"

"Nope." Lucy grinned, finding it more entertaining than she'd expected.

"Melissa?"

"No."

"Mavis? Marcus? Mutant?" he listed off exasperatedly.

She gave him a look. "Now you're just being silly."

"I give up," he said. "Reckon you're just making it up anyway."

Something told her that revealing outright who his future wife would be worse somehow than making him guess for himself. Doing it this way allowed her to convince herself that she was merely helping to coax things along.

"I'll give you another clue," she said, ignoring his sigh. "She originally came here from Beauxbatons."

Tom's expression became alert. "Marion?" he realised. "Marion came from Beauxbatons." He gave Lucy a dubious look. "Are you sure she said all that about me, she's never said anything like it to my face."

The more he thought on it the more he seemed to be coming round to the idea.

Lucy held her hands up. "I can officially say no more," she said, feeling a sense of merriment at her matchmaking.

It was as if she was Father Christmas dishing out presents on Christmas Eve, if Father Christmas had been a seventeen year old girl who found meddling in the future a justifiable past-time.

Tom looked down at her fondly.

"So you're definitely sticking around this time then?" he asked. "Got no more bathroom-based disappearing acts planned?"

"Not any time soon," she replied.

"Good," he said. "Believe it or not, I quite like having you around... regardless of your, frankly dreadful, taste in men."

"Are you forgetting you were my date to the ball?"

Tom smiled crookedly, "Nope, don't think I'll ever forget that."

He held his arms open. "Reckon I can get one last hug? Or d'you think old Siri would blow his top?"

"Pretty sure hugging friends is still allowed," she told him.

Tom's long arms wrapped around her shoulders, burying his face into the perfume of her hair. They held one another tightly, both lost in the moment, but both for completely different reasons. She felt the soothing rhythm of his chest rise and fall against her face.

She knew they would one day be family, but Tom wouldn't get to find that out until a seemingly ageless seventeen year old Lucy turned up on his doorstep in 2005. After school they would have to go their separate ways to let the prophecy play out as it should for the next twenty seven years.

She had already resolved to reconnect with him the very second that she could. In the meantime she would do everything she could to make the most of his friendship while they remained at Hogwarts.

When they parted, Tom's black eyes were glazed.

"If you ever get bored of Black's disgustingly handsome face…" he joked, taking a purposeful step back, "You know where I am."

Lucy wanted to tell him how much she loved and was grateful for him, but she wasn't sure he'd understand why or just how much until a lot later in life.

He studied at her as if wanting to say more, but seemed to decide against it.

"I'll see you around, Spacegirl," he said resolutely.

Lucy found herself standing there, watching him walk away when she felt something wet nudge the back of her fingers. She looked down to find a very familiar looking gigantic black dog sat at her side. He whined dolefully.

She bent down to her knees next to him, stroking her fingertips along his jaw. The dog's body began to tremble and she leaned back in time to find Sirius in his place.

"You okay?" he asked in a low voice, having seen the end of their interaction.

"It hurts that I can't tell him the truth," she admitted. "He has no idea how important he will be to me. All he feels right now is rejected, and there's nothing I can do to make things better."

"You'll get to tell him everything, eventually," he consoled. "At least you know things will turn out alright for him, in the end."

She knew he was right, and it was a lot more than could be said for either of them.

"You know, I think I'm actually starting to warm to Boswell," Sirius confessed.

Lucy pulled back. "Really?" she asked, unconvinced.

He shrugged. "Well it's not every day I get called 'disgustingly handsome'."

She pretended to appraise him. "Hmm, you know I've never noticed that about you before. He's right, you're not half-bad, I guess."

Sirius grinned a wolfish smile and pulled her to her feet.

"You're not half-bad yourself."


	30. All Hallows Eve

**A/N:** Well, this is it – the final chapter. This story has taken me twelve years to finish (reposted and restarted a couple of times since 2007) TWELVE YEARS. I feel a Sirius-related quote coming on... But we're finally here. I can't actually believe it. It's the end of an era.

I just want to say a massive thank you to anyone who's been there since the beginning, as well as those who've taken the time to review and encourage at any point. You have no idea how grateful I am. To those faithful readers who don't normally get chance to leave a comment, I appreciate you too! Now's your chance to make my day and leave me one last review. I really hope you like it. BlackElectric x

* * *

 **Chapter 30**

' **All Hallows Eve.'**

It was the night of Hallowe'en, 1981.

Twenty-one year old Peter Pettigrew pulled his cloak closer to his chest like a security blanket, pretending that it was the chill of the night air that caused his body to shudder and his teeth to chatter uncontrollably.

He could hear the other wizard's soft, but confident footfalls following just a hair's breadth behind him. He knew that if he turned around he would see the deceptively serene eyes of a mass murderer staring back at him. It made him cringe, a shot of fear pulsing through his chest.

He tried to think how it had come to this; helping the Dark Lord to find his best friends and their young child. In the end Peter had felt no choice but help him; Voldemort was not someone to be denied.

Peter feared for his very existence.

All his life he had longed for acceptance into the fold of those more powerful than him, a form of protection, regardless of where that might come from.

Now he had been forced to decide once and for all where his loyalties lay, and it had led him directly to his present location; the quiet village of Godric's Hollow.

.o.

"We're almost there," he said, ashamed by the fact his voice had come out a mere decibel above a squeak. He cleared his throat to distract from it, and Voldemort gave a cruel, humourless smile, sensing the young man's weakness.

Voldemort marvelled at the frailty and trembling vulnerability he seemed to bring out in his fellow wizards, and Pettigrew was by far the feeblest of them all. It gave him a renewed sense of his own supremacy each time. Not that he needed it, of course.

Peter's scurrying finally stopped outside of a black and white timbered cottage. His eyes darted around nervously, looking anywhere except at the tall, cloaked figure now standing at his side.

Voldemort let his eyes move over the insignificant-looking building and sneered.

"This is it?" he asked.

Peter nodded hurriedly. This was the home of James and Lily Potter, previously protected by the Fidelius Charm until he, Peter Pettigrew, had shown Voldemort the exact location.

Reaching into his pocket, Voldemort pulled out his wand. This would be too easy; it was almost not worth bothering.

But Severus Snape had been all too sure of the prophecy – a young boy who would one day prove to be his downfall.

As unimaginable, _laughable_ as the idea was, Voldemort knew that precautions must be taken. He could not risk any threat to his success. Harry Potter must be destroyed.

Impatient to leave his disgustingly mediocre surroundings, he made a curt indication to Pettigrew to wait outside for his return. This would not take long.

Peter gladly ran to one side, wondering how it had all come to this and fearing with every essence of his being that he had even now managed to make the wrong decision, to choose the wrong side.

Forcing the door back on its hinges with a lazy flick of the wrist, Voldemort did not seem to worry whether he was heard by the inhabitants; it did not matter if they noticed his presence now, their fate was already sealed.

Peter watched him sweep easily into the building which housed his long-time friends. There would be death in the air soon, and he did not relish it.

 _It was a necessary step_ , he reminded himself. There was no other _choice_.

He looked sightlessly at the trail of footprints that the Dark Lord had left behind in the smooth, fine sheet of snow. In the back of his mind, his thoughts wondered distractedly, briefly marvelling at how unheard of it was to find snow at that time of year. It seemed to match the mood perfectly somehow, as if the weather matched their murderous plans.

He shuffled nervously, pulling at his cloak again. The air was eerily still, and he was waiting for some kind of noise, anything that might tell him the unsavoury deed was finally done.

The silence was disturbed by a rumble of shock echoing inside the building. Seconds passed before a flurry of deathly green light flashed from within the small upper window on the right-hand side of the building.

It finished as quickly as it had started, and the overbearing silence soon resumed as if it had never happened.

Peter held his breath, watching for any signs of life.

The door to the cottage opened once again and a solitary silhouette made its way out. A second later, it was followed by another, then another, then another. Peter couldn't help but think of the tiny clown cars housing tens of clowns he had seen on Muggle comedy shows.

There were twelve dark figures overall, all exiting the cottage in a steady stream. Though Peter couldn't make out their faces from his distance, he knew them all well enough to know they would be fierce and determined.

He allowed a staggered breath to leave his body, his shoulders to sag a little; it had been five long years, but his role was finally over.

.o.

Hagrid extinguished the thundering engine of the large black motorcycle in the nearby town of Quedgeley and heaved himself off it.

He had an important delivery to make. A _very_ important delivery.

The delivery made a high pitched noise when it was lifted from the bike's sidecar.

Wrapping it carefully in the blankets that Lily Potter had placed it in, Hagrid took his precious cargo towards the red brick house atop with a fresh flurry of snow.

With a tap from his pink umbrella, the dark green front door sprang open. A whoosh of cold air heralded his arrival and he shut the door hastily behind him.

Carrying the delivery in in his arms, he took it through into the warm living room.

A young blonde woman sat waiting for his arrival. There was a baby cradled on her lap, sleeping peacefully.

"You brought it," she smiled, accepting the large powder blue bear from Hagrid's giant hand. It was Harry's favourite toy, and he had been gurgling after it all evening.

"Any news?" she asked, placing it gently next to them on the sofa.

"None yet I'm afraid, Lucy," Hagrid answered grimly.

The sound of the front door opening and closing alerted them.

Her eyes flitted to Hagrid's, her face betraying her worry. It seemed too soon. What if it wasn't them?

"I'll check on it fer yer," Hagrid rumbled. He checked on the dozing form of Harry, still cuddled securely on Lucy's lap, before walking out into the hallway to see who it was.

A few seconds he returned alone.

Lucy's eyes darted around him, trying to see past his expansive frame. Lumbering to one side he revealed three tired figures.

Her worry collapsed into a relieved smile.

"You did it," she realised.

.o.

Walking over to her friend, Lily reclaimed her precious bundle of blankets, cradling him to her. Hagrid said his goodbyes even as Lily continued to murmur soothing words to Harry.

James peered over her shoulder into the bundle's peacefully sleeping face.

"My boy," he whispered, his eyes glistening.

Lily glanced back at him. "Are you crying?" she asked softly, her face breaking into a gentle smile.

James wiped any traces away hastily. "What? No. The cold air just makes my eyes water."

Lily smiled knowingly and let her gaze filter back to Harry.

Released from her babysitting duty, Lucy walked forwards to an exhausted looking Sirius and he let himself be held, bringing his hands to her back.

"I can't believe you did it," she murmured. Though outwardly she had always maintained her belief in their plan's success, and their ability to alter their horrific future, in her heart of hearts she had always hoped for the best and expected the worst.

"Old Voldy didn't stand a chance," Sirius replied easily, but his expression told her that he'd had his doubts."Alastor will lead a raid in search of Gaunt's ring tomorrow," he told her. "And Aberforth will take out the Ravenclaw diadem in the Room of Requirement."

At the sight of Lily's pointed glance, they moved through the alcove into the adjacent kitchen to avoid waking the sleeping Harry.

Sirius leaned back against one of the counters.

"There'll be bursts of resistance now that their leader is gone, there's no doubt about that, but considering we know the names of most of the Death Eaters...we can pick them off like flies."

James appeared at the doorway, "Lily's putting Harry to bed," he explained.

"You can stay with us as long as you need," Lucy told him.

James gave her a grateful look. "It's just until we can be sure there aren't any revenge attacks on our house." He gave a grim smile. "Dumbledore's said we can all take a step back for now."

Lucy nodded. "Good."

Sirius shifted in the background. He hadn't quite found the right way to tell her he didn't want to take a step back. He wanted to see it through.

It was a conversation that could wait until another time, however. Preferably when James wasn't around to hear her chastise him.

"Where are the kids?" he asked, purposefully changing the subject.

"They're already asleep," Lucy answered.

"Merlin I miss those little buggers when I'm on an Order assignment. I might go and see how they're doing," Sirius said, already getting ready to move.

Lucy put a hasty hand on his chest to stop him. "Don't you dare, you know what they're like when you wake them at this time of evening. They'll be up all night. _We'll_ be up all night."

"Have a feeling it might be too late," James noted, hearing the familiar sound of pattering feet hurrying down the stairs, "They must've heard Lily upstairs."

A broad grin spread across Sirius's face as one black and one blonde haired head entered the kitchen and ran towards him. He crouched down to meet them.

"Hey kiddos," he said, laughing as they licked his face. The two dogs pounced excitedly around him, bouncing their two front paws between the floor and his knees and back again in quick succession.

"Alright Walburga, calm down," Lucy said, stroking the head of the female blonde retriever as it pushed into her legs, threatening to buckle them.

"Can't believe you named it after your mother," James snorted, pilfering a clementine from his friend's fruit bowl.

Sirius shrugged, "Always said she was a bitch," he said unrepentantly, patting the black haired mongrel firmly on its side. "Good boy, Tom," he murmured, looking lovingly at Tom's slightly dopey face.

"Might take them out for a run tomorrow," he commented idly, "Padfoot could do with stretching his legs too, come to think about it." Tom wagged his tail in response.

"Have you ever thought about having kids of your own?" James asked, throwing the fruit peel into the bin across the room with an expert shot left over from his Quidditch playing days.

"Real children, I mean," he clarified, "as in, of the human variety. Not these two slobbering doughnut heads you call your children... which is really weird by the way."

Sirius got up from the floor, "That's hurtful, Prongs, very hurtful. Don't listen kids," he said, looking down at the oblivious pair now laid down at his feet.

"That's none of our business, James," Lily walked in from the adjacent room, surprising them all.

"But it would be perfect," James insisted, "it could be a friend for little Harry, they could grow up together."

"We're not having a child just to improve Harry's social life, Prongs," Sirius replied drolly. "Besides, we're enjoying one another's company too much...if you know what I mean," he added with a sly grin.

"Yes, I think we all know what you mean, Padfoot," James replied a little bitterly. What with Harry still waking up intermittently through the night, he and Lily hadn't 'enjoyed one another's company' in months.

Sirius chuckled.

"Maybe in a few years time, eh?" he told James.

Lily cradled a freshly poured cup of herbal tea and raised her eyebrow, "And does Lucy get a say in this at all, boys?"

Sirius looked at her a little guiltily. "Of course," he said defensively.

"Oh no, I agree with Sirius," Lucy said helpfully. "We're not ready. We can just about look after these two idiots," she said, nodding at the drooling hounds.

Sirius gave her a crooked smile.

"Fine," James relented. "But you know, when you do decide to go for it, I can give you a hand choosing the names. I've got some corkers," he said proudly.

"Not this again," Lily groaned. "Do you know what he wanted to call Harry?" she said, "He wanted to call him-"

"-Elvendork!" James finished. "Yeah, so what? What's wrong with Elvendork? It's versatile, it's unique, _and_ the best part is you can use it for a boy _or_ a girl."

"That's the thing about terrible names, mate," Sirius said, "the reason they're so versatile is because no one else actually wants them. It's like naming a kid 'coat stand'; sure it's genderless and unique, but it's also absolutely bloody ridiculous."

Lucy stifled a laugh. "We'll bear Elvendork in mind," she said pacifyingly to James. She could still remember him trying to convince Lily to call Harry 'Fedora', because he thought the hats were _jaunty_.

The rapping of the front door knocker made them all turn their heads at once, their bantering put immediately on hold.

"Pretty sure Death Eaters don't knock," Sirius pointed out, pretending he hadn't jumped along with the rest of them.

He waded through the furry bodies at his feet to go and answer it. When he came back he was followed by two fatigued, but relieved looking faces.

Lily greeted Remus and Peter with a smile.

"How are you both holding up?" she asked.

"Just glad it's over," Peter replied honestly.

James looked at him like a proud father, "We're proud of you, mate," he confirmed. "You did really well."

Even Sirius had to admit they couldn't have done any of it without him.

Peter had played his part perfectly; the unwaveringly loyal follower, giving up his friends lives in return for power and protection.

His years of brutal occlumency training had been put to good use as he blocked his rebellious thoughts from the Dark Lord.

Voldemort had thought it unnecessary to look too hard, or pry too deeply into Pettigrew's head – it seemed he had underestimated his seemingly loyal servant's ability to deceive.

James put his arms around Peter and Remus's shoulders.

"It's just like old times isn't it?" he said leave with a wistful look in his eye, "Us and the girls all together again. Just like being back at Hogwarts."

"Prongs, we all ate Sunday lunch together yesterday afternoon," Remus pointed out. " _You_ cooked it."

"Details, details," James dismissed him.

Sirius put a hand to his stomach, pulling a face. "Merlin, don't remind me," he said. "I don't think I'll ever recover from those Yorkshire puddings. If that's what you could call them."

"Never had any with liquid in the middle before," Peter remarked, thinking back to the selection of half-cooked batter shapes James had proudly presented them with.

"That's because they're not supposed to have liquid in the middle," Sirius replied dryly. "It was like biting into a soiled nappy."

Remus's face twitched briefly in amusement before he managed to contain it.

"Hey," James said, releasing Remus and Peter from his arms and looking affronted at them all. "I made those Yorkshire puddings with my own fair hands. I poured my heart and soul into them."

"That must be where all the liquid came from," Peter said knowledgeably, unaware of his gaffe.

Sirius barked a laugh in response.

"Let's go and sit down," Lily said, already making to move into the front room.

She shot Lucy a weary look on the way past, "I'm too tired for this," she joked weakly.

.o.

"So there we were, waiting, quiet as mice..."

As soon as they had reached the seating area, Lily had watched with no small amount of dread as James had dimmed the overhead light and readied himself in the chair next to the fireplace.

She knew what was coming before it even started. It had already happened at least ten times that evening since their departure from Godric's Hollow.

With an unintentionally captive audience gathered around him, James began to go back over the finer details of their final 'battle' with the Dark Lord Voldemort.

His latest retelling was under the pretence of telling Lucy what she had missed.

Lily settled into her seat next to Remus on the sofa. They both knew they were in it for the long-haul.

James spoke conspiratorially, as if fancying himself a modern day raconteur.

"Alastor, Marlene, and Frank and Alice were already concealed downstairs, just in case," he described, using his expressions and hand gestures to add an air of mystery to the tale.

"Benjy and Dedalus were in the bathroom," he listed them on his fingers, "and Gideon and Fab both hiding out in our bedroom –you wouldn't want to stumble across them on a dark night-" he quipped as an aside, "- and then of course Sirius, Remus, Lily and I were in Harry's room."

Peter's lifeless form gave a snore from his dark blue armchair, but James pretended not to hear.

"Now picture it," he continued undeterred, "we're all there, lying in wait, none of us daring to even breathe, when suddenly, without warning, we hear the door SMASH open downstairs."

The abrupt shouting of the word smash made Peter start awake.

"Voldy doesn't care if we can hear him," James added, getting into the swing of it now. "He thinks he's already got us beat, doesn't he? So imagine his face when he storms the nursery only to find us four already waiting for him with our wands readied."

His eyes were alight at the memory.

"His face was an absolute picture!" he cried. "Wish I'd had a camera. So anyway, before he can so much as blink, everyone else comes out of hiding and rushes him from behind. Fabian knocks his wand halfway across the room, and the rest of us hit him with the ultimate unspeakable – at the express instruction of the Ministry no less.

"After that his body just gave way on him and he just kind of fell to the floor," he said, "just like a broken puppet."

His hazel eyes took on a contemplative look behind his round glasses. "It was almost too easy," he observed.

Sirius nodded in agreement.

"He relied on surrounding himself in a shroud of mystery," Remus said in a low voice. "Moving quickly and killing randomly. Acting like that has its benefits... means you always catch people unawares, don't give them enough warning to fight back."

"He was a coward," Sirius said in disgust.

"His followers were always ready to die before they'd reveal his whereabouts," James noted seriously.

"And believe me, some of them have done," Sirius added with a hard look in his eyes.

"He wasn't banking on Peter here giving him up like a lamb to the slaughter," James said.

"It was always his moments of arrogance that led to his failures," Lucy remembered. "In the books, I mean," she added in response to a few questioning looks.

"If Voldemort hadn't come alone to kill Harry and us tonight, he'd probably still be alive," Lily realised, a line forming on her brow.

"But he did," James replied simply, not wanting her to linger on the thought. "And now he's dead."

They fell into a brief silence.

After sitting comfortably in one another's company until the early hours of the evening, drinking and talking about their upcoming plans for the remaining Horcruxes, Remus and Peter had finally said their goodbyes at around 2am, leaving the rest of them to filter up to their respective rooms.

Lucy had tried her best to make their tiny spare bedroom as comfortable as possible for James, Lily and Harry until they were able to move back home.

If she and Sirius were honest, a part of them was enjoying having them stay. It was like James had said earlier; it was like being back at Hogwarts.

.oOo.

Lucy felt herself spring bolt upright, her eyes wide as saucers as she tried desperately to see through the darkness of the room.

She had woken to someone crying out a heart wrenching, "No!" but soon realised it had come from her. Feeling wetness on her face, she wiped the remnants of tears from her eyes, realising she had been crying during her sleep.

She'd had an awful nightmare.

From what she could remember, she had woken in a hospital bed only to be greeted by her father and her best friend Shell.

Seeing her wake up, Shell had dashed to her side, calling desperately for the doctors to come.

After checking her over they broke the news that she'd actually been in a coma for the last four years after suffering from something called encephalitis. They had said it had been brought on by severe complications caused by the measles virus.

It was the unfamiliar details of her nightmare that made it all so disorientating and realistic for Lucy to experience. There had been medical terms she felt sure she had not heard before.

It was what had made it all so frighteningly real.

She could still picture her father's worried, helpless face as he sat there listening to her ramblings about the magical school and the key part she had played in a life-saving prophecy.

Even as she had tried to explain it to them, she could hear herself how far-fetched it had sounded.

The doctors had forced her to believe that everything she had done over the last few years was just a figment of her delirious, damaged mind.

Needing reassurance now and still unable to focus her vision in the dark of the bedroom, Lucy reached out instinctively to find the familiar comfort of Sirius's warm body next to hers.

A shot of panic coursed through her veins when her hand met with cold empty bed linen.

Her pulse started to throb in her ears, feeling as if it could deafen her. She tried to look around at her surroundings again, but it was just too dark to make anything out that might tell her where she was.

A part of her didn't want to get up and turn the light. What if it wasn't a dream?

She held back a whimper. It couldn't be real. It couldn't be.

Kicking the blankets off herself, she used both hands now, desperately searching the vacant sheets for any sign she hadn't invented the entire reality. " _Please."_

She felt the hysteria descend over her. He wasn't there. _He wasn't there_.

"Sirius? _Sirius_!"

She flung the blankets all the way off the bed, pushing every last bit to the floor as if he would be hiding somewhere amongst them. It was empty. Completely empty.

Lucy shook her head back and forth. "No...no," she repeated.

Magic, wizards...How could it possibly have been real? Her years of reading the books and allowing herself to fall into dream after dream about what it would be like to go there. Of course it would be the first place her unconscious brain would take her if it was given the opportunity.

She should have known it was too good to be true. She didn't get to have her happy ending, why should she? She was nothing special.

The clicking of the bedroom door opening put her delirium on pause and the bright overhead light flicked on. She squinted hard, shielding herself from the force of it.

"Hey," a low voice said. "I heard you calling. Did it happen again? I thought they were starting to slow down a bit."

Lucy's brow furrowed.

"Sirius?" she said in a weak voice. She forced her eyes to focus on the familiar angles of his face, which were currently set in a concerned frown. In his hand was a glass of something he had obviously just got up to fetch.

She followed his gaze to the mess she had made of their sheets. Putting her hands over her face, she collapsed back onto her pillow.

"They're never going to stop are they?" she said morosely, thinking of the different ways her mind had tried to trick her into doubting her own sanity over the years. "It felt so real this time." She still felt choked, her pummelling heart only now beginning to slow.

Sirius walked over to place his drink on the nightstand at his side of the bed and gathered the blankets up from the floor, dragging them back with him as he settled back in.

As soon as he had led his body down next to hers, Lucy moved closer to him, running a thumb over his cheekbone and jaw, sweeping her fingers back through the lengths of his hair.

"You're really here, right?" she asked him.

"Course I am," he replied softly. He placed a hand on her waist and pulled her into him, pressing their bodies together. "Unfortunately for you you're stuck with me."

Lifting a hand, he clicked his fingers, "Nox." The lights extinguished themselves obediently. He hooked a possessive leg over the top of hers. "We'll send an owl to Dumbledore in the morning, see if there's anything he can give you for the dreams."

"Okay," Lucy replied, continuing to work her fingers through his long dark hair.

"I almost forgot," Sirius said, feeling he should share something with her, but trying to choose his words extremely carefully, "while we were in the Ministry the other day, Arthur offered to let us look through the Muggle Artifacts archive..."

"Oh yeah?" Lucy murmured absentmindedly, feeling the onset of sleep start to overwhelm her.

"Yeah," Sirius repeated, wondering if he should actually tell her the rest of the story. "It was just in case there was anything interesting in there, you know, something we could use that might help us destroy the Horcruxes without risking setting off any curses we don't know about..."

There was a beat before he continued, "We found some kind of glass globe hidden away in a draw."

Lucy's hand immediately stilled.

"You found a-?" Her voice was strained.

"I mean we don't know for definite yet," Sirius warned, already trying to backtrack, "Arthur was almost certain it was just an oversized Muggle paperweight-"

"-But?" Lucy pressed.

Sirius released a breath. "But... Remus took it back to his to check it over, and we're waiting to hear back from him on it."

Lucy's mind swam.

"We haven't told anyone about it at the Ministry yet, just in case," he added.

"You really think it could be a-?" Lucy stopped herself, finding herself inexplicably unable to say the word aloud.

Sirius finished it for her. "We think it's a Timekeeper," he confirmed.


End file.
